Together, We Stand As One
by TigerInTheMoonlight
Summary: What if our favourite characters were saved from their tragic lives? One conversation leads to a decision that will change the lives of many and create legends that the ninja world were never expecting. OCCness, swearing. Humour. Some character Bashing
1. Prologue

**This is my first story so please bear with me. I will be changing some details slightly to suit my story but nothing too major. Due to characters having altered childhoods there will be OCCness but that's to be expected, I will do my best. Flamers I will just laugh at but constructive criticism is welcomed thanks**

Prologue

A young boy was walking slowing down a deserted street, but he could feel the hateful stares of those hidden that he could not see. Watching him, cursing him, always wishing for his death. But the blonde six year old looked ahead and held his whiskered face high – he would only cry at home when he was alone. It was only safe alone. They liked it too much when he cried. Not even Hokage-jiji had seen him cry in years, only his occasional ANBU guards that he wasn't even aware watched him. One such guard was a young captain, going by the codename Raven-taichou, however most instantly knew his identity, due to his status and skill at only thirteen years.

The young blonde was so deep in thought that he almost didn't notice that somebody else had seemingly materialised into the street before him, slowing stalking towards the frightened boy. He slowed his walk but didn't stop, however he began to shake slightly in fear of this mysterious man. He reeked of power, which in the seven year old's mind translated to extreme pain in his near future. Because of course this person hated him as well, but he would never give up. It would upset Hokage-jiji if he was to give up, that he knew. And the people at that ramen stand maybe? He had met them two weeks ago, and they were very kind to him, but he couldn't help but fear that it would soon change. But the ramen really was great. He must try to go there again…Ichiraku's Ramen right? He would have to remember that. He was brought back from his musings as the dark figure came ever closer, a metre now. The small boy braced himself for impact…

And nothing happened. He tentatively peeked through his lashes and, seeing no threat, opened his sapphire eyes…to see nothing but an empty street once again. He looked around rapidly, resembling a puppy chasing its tail, but still he was alone. He let out a sigh of relief as deep as the Hokage Mountain was tall, and continued on to his small apartment.

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Uchiha Itachi arrived silently at the gates to the Uchiha clan compound, ominously drawing his ANBU regulation kantana out of its sheath, balancing it with his right hand and readied a kunai in his left. His mission orders were now in a storage scroll, along with any other living nesseccities, but he took no personal belongings. He would buy new clothes with the money he had and anything he knew he must travel light. After the mission was fulfilled he knew he was to leave the village forever, under the oath to never do anything that would cause harm to Konoha, he was free to live as he decided. He heard the Academy bell in the distance - damn! He had to hurry, before his Otouto got home. He took a nearly inperceptable breath and closed his eyes briefly, before opening them and continuing forward. His eyes were now a spinning red and black that even the Uchihas' feared when they recognised it. The Mangekyo Sharingan. And so the slaughter began.

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Another young boy was out alone that night, but this boy had dark eyes and hair, and rather than walking sombrely, Sasuke Uchiha was running as fast as his little body would take him. He was late after all, and after only his first day too! He had to hurry, he knew his Tou-san would be furious, it was already dark out! He knew his Kaa-chan would worry and Aniki…well, he wasn't sure anymore. Itachi was different lately…he was colder and more distant…and even the innocent six-almost-seven year old could feel the stifling tension between his Aniki and his Tou-san. He ran through the gates to the compound, not knowing that his own brother had stood there just minutes ago, and never expecting what was awaiting him.


	2. Chapter One

**Disclaimer : IF I OWNED NARUTO, THEN LETS BE HONEST, IT WOULD PROBABLY SUCK**

**Hi! Ok so Sasuke might seem a little OOC but it's because it has only been a month since the massacre so he hasn't had years for revenge and hatred to start eating away at him yet. Also, Sakura and Ino bashing, nothing too serious but you've been warned! This doesn't mean I hate them so please don't be offended. With that said, Enjoy!**

CHAPTER ONE

ONE MONTH LATER

"YOU DAMN BRAT!" cried an angry chunin as he chased the young blonde furiously, all the while trying to untangle himself from one of the prankster's latest inventions : the Silly-String Bomb. The nameless brunet shinobi was surely a sight to behold – covered in sticky orange string-foam while practically foaming at the mouth himself in his rage at the cackling child. HOW WAS THIS DEMON BRAT FASTER THEN HIM? Him, a noble and admired Konoha chunin! He must have been tapping into his demonic powers, how could the Sandaime let this atrocious beast continue to mock them? THE FOOL!

He looked around the street, searching for the orange-clad boy, only to find that in his distraction he child had slipped away. He growled something worthy of an Inuzuka before storming off towards the Hokage Tower to get the Demon charged for Assault on a loyal Konoha Shinobi! He stamped away, never paying mind to the broken orange trail he was leaving in his wake.

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Uzumaki Naruto was bent over, hand to his knees and puffing something terrible. He took a moment to catch his breath and look behind him for his pursuer – it looked like he was gone. Naruto sighed with relief before finally giving in to his body's urges and crumpling at the knees and collapsing on the grassy hill over-looking a lake. As his adrenaline wore off he eventually succumbed to exhaustion and let the world go dark.

Naruto awoke to a foot in his side, sadly something not as uncommon as one might hope to believe. The weary blonde however jumped up immediately, only stumbling a little, as his reflexes had – by necessity – vastly improved over time. He looked around to see three boy, probably around eleven sneering at him in a superior fashion. He relaxed minutely, these kids weren't a huge threat at least.

"Your THAT brat right? We saw you around the Academy!" yelled the tallest boy, he had reddish-brown hair and freckles with brown eyes full of resentment.

"Yeah! My Okaa-chan said to stay away from you 'cause your dangerous! But we can take you! We're gonna be Genin by the end of the year so don't even bother trying!" The prideful shortest boy stated, his hair was a dark brown, bordering black and stuck up in every direction, much like Naruto's own. The boy's Jade eyes shone with malice and confidence.

The last boy, who was only slightly taller than the green-eyed boy, stayed silent until his friend were finished, and tilted his dark purple head to the right, his similar coloured eyes boring into the blondes and simply spoke,

"Die Demon."

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Naruto lay bleeding on the once green grass, silently thanking Kami that these bullies weren't nearly as strong as they thought themselves to be. He has only flesh wounds, not even a single broken bone! He felt he was very lucky that he was these guys who found him and not someone a lot more dangerous.

"Katsumi….maybe we should stop?" The tallest boy seemed to be getting anxious as the purple haired boy, now dubbed Katsumi, pulled out a kunai.

_Katsumi…'Self-Control' huh?_ If he was able Naruto would have laughed. This crazy-ass dude with a kunai is named 'Self-Control'. Kami certainly had a sense of humour.

"SHUT UP ISAMU! We have to do this! How else are we gonna be respected? People will worship us for this!" Screamed the temperamental dark haired boy to the now also named Isamu.

'_Courage and Bravery' seriously? And here he is bowing down like a submissive dog….Geez, what's next? The blood-thirsty one being called after love or something? Kami…._

"Yoshio, Isamu, shut it!" snapped Katsumi, whose fingers were now twitching around his kunai in irritation.

Naruto meanwhile was inwardly cracking up in hysterics. _'Righteous Man!' Oh wow these guys have the funniest names! _Thought the boy named after a Fishcake.

"SHIT! YOSHIO YOU WERE 'SPOSED TO KEEP A LOOK OUT! DAMMIT!" screamed a now panicking Isamu as he saw a small group heading down the path towards them. Little did they know that the civilians would do nothing but praise them if they had seen. They hoisted the young blonde and took him down by the lake, carelessly throwing him in before taking off like the cowardly children they were.

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Naruto surfaced, having the drying blood washed off his face to once again revealed his whisker marks, the very marks that singled him out and caused so much hatred to be directed towards him since infancy. His already-healed wounds only had a receding twinge of pain they would soon fade, however that was the very least of his concerns. He was now in a situation that he has been fortunate enough to have never been in before, because if people had found out his secret, he would surely be dead. Naruto Uzumaki couldn't swim.

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It had been a month since That Day. The day he started at the Academy. The day he had lost his clan, his family. The day that his own older brother had left him, crying, tortured and alone in an estate full of corpses.

"Itachi….Aniki….why?" Sasuke whispered to the wind, the sky, the water, whatever would listen. He stared at his reflection on the lake's surface, seeing the setting sun behind him. He stared at his own face as he imagined his brother's features over-lapping his own. He didn't take much. Suddenly his/Itachi's eyes became red and mocking and his monotone words once again ran through Sasuke's mind. _To test himself. Is that really my own brother? My beloved Aniki never truly existed? Was it only a game he played, and like everything else he does, he did it so well? I have so many questions but I fear the answers as much as I want them._ Sasuke looked away from the water, breaking the trance he had put himself in while thinking so deeply, too deeply for a mere seven year old to have to handle.

Sasuke looked back out to the lake indifferently, his face having shown less emotion since the massacre, to see three boys, a few years older than him, throwing a smaller body into the water before running away. Sasuke had frozen, did they dump a body? He turned frantically towards the source of the ripples and saw a flash of blonde hair, and momentarily forgetting his stoicism, let he distress show on his once-again young face. The flash-backs came harder and stronger now. Helpless. He was HELPLESS. He couldn't save anyone, couldn't even save himself if not for Itachi's choice that he wasn't worth it.

But then, he saw the blonde surface, showing that it was a young boy about his age, who looked vaguely familiar, but that wasn't important at the moment. The blonde started to frantically struggle trying to stay afloat in the deep water and that finally shocked Sasuke into moving out of his frozen position. He wouldn't be helpless. Not this time. Never again.

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Naruto felt himself being grabbed from behind and automatically his struggling intensified, until he heard a voice say,

"Calm down! Or we're both gonna drown Baka!"

Naruto calmed slightly and let himself be dragged over to a small peer overlooking majority of the lake, and both boys pulled themselves up, panting heavily. Naruto turned to see the face of this rescuer and was surprised to say the least that he was just as young as himself,

"Hey…" The blonde panted "Your…Sasuke, right? From the Academy? I think…." He gasped for breath again "We're in the same class. Shin-Sensei?"

"H…hn…." _Wow_, thought the exhausted Uchiha, _too tired to 'hn' right…_

"What," Gasped the blonde "The HELL is 'Hn' supposed to mean?" He let out a weak chuckle as Sasuke gave a pitiful glare that would have all Uchihas' rolling in their graves.

After ten minutes of catching their breath, both still on their hand and knees next to each other, the blonde stuck and hand out sideways to the Uchiha. "Uzumaki Naruto."

Sasuke glanced and him before slowly gripping the offered hand and with a slight shake, said "Uchiha Sasuke."

By the time the boys' clothes had dried off the sun was almost completely gone from the sky. As Naruto departed with a wave and a cheerful "See you at the Academy Sasuke!", the dark haired boy let the tiny smile cross his face before adopting an emotionless mask once again. As he returned to the empty compound he was stunned to realise two things. One, he hadn't even found out why the blonde was dumped in the lake in the first place and two – It had been almost an hour since he had even thought of his family and Itachi.

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"Saassuukee-kuuuun!" Sang out the annoying blonde Yamanaka girl, who ran towards him with hearts in her eyes that made him wonder if she has some kind of deranged Kekkei-Genkai. But then again, if she did then so did majority of his females classmates. _Fangirls…_He had to repress a shudder of horror as a pink haired girl came screeching to a halt in front of his desk, getting into a fight with that Ino girl. Sakura Haruno. The name alone was enough to make his male classmates wince in sympathy. That girl had a set of lungs to rival a foghorn and although pathetically weak physically she had a nasty temper that often resulted in violence. She was book smart, but reciting the Shinobi codes backwards wouldn't keep her alive, especially if she herself couldn't follow them.

Sasuke looked away from the ridiculous scene of hair-pulling and lame insults being thrown around in front of him, and watched their Sensei walk in and try to hush the class, though it seemed futile. They were a bunch of seven year olds after all. Sasuke's thoughts were interrupted when a burst of orange sailed through the door at high speed yelling,

"Sorry Shin-Sensei!"

Sasuke noticed the heated glare directed at the blonde by their Sensei, that seemed to be a bit over-the-top for simply being late.

The whiskered boy looked around and saw Sasuke sitting by a window alone, as Shin-Sensei had separated Ino and Sakura in respective corners of the room, mush to their dismay and Sasuke's relief. He bounded over and plopped down beside the Uchiha, giving him a wide fox-like grin.

"Hey Sasuke! Thanks again about yesterday…I would have been in a lot of trouble without you!" He laughed awkwardly, rubbing the back of his head, making his spikes look even more out-of-control, much like the blonde's personality itself. Wild and unpredictable, but so sunny and bright that it almost hurts to look at. Sasuke found himself wanting to be around the boy more, if only to chase away some of his darkness with the blonde's natural sunshine and warmth.

"…Its ok…" Sasuke quietly said, as the blonde looked on in surprise, before grinning even wider, if possible.

"You know what Sasuke? I'm gonna made you talk more often," He told the Uchiha with a more hesitant smile "If you want me to anyways…" his face showing hidden nervousness. After all, he'd never really had a friend before.

Sasuke was thinking along the same lines. "…I guess I can let you try," he looked at the blonde out of the corner of his eyes, "But I'm not gonna make it easy on you, Dobe."

"Dobe!" Naruto screeched "You…YOU TEME! I AM NOT A DOBE!" He pouted and looked away, but smiled on the inside. He had a friend.

Sasuke let a tiny smirk onto his face. _Well…things will be interesting, that's for sure._

**OK just a quick note; this is not a Yaoi (Boy X Boy) story. They will become very close, but as far as the story goes so far it won't be SasuNaru or NaruSasu, unless I get a lot of people trying to change my mind. As it is there are no main pairings, sorry. Hope you liked! **

**-TITM**


	3. Chapter Two

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, or anything on youtube (You'll see what I mean). I do however own the OCs.**

**Hey, ok in either this chapter or the next will be the all-important conversation, and after that the plot will perhaps be clearer, but not too obvious! I know the main storyline but everything so far has been made up as I go so I apologise! Also I have no Beta so at least I'm spelling stuff right! (Hopefully) anyway, enough blabbering on, enjoy!**

CHAPTER TWO

"_No, NO STOP!"_

"_AAHHH!"_

"_Please, I beg you, spare my children!"_

"_Who…YOU! HOW COULD Y-"_

"_Somebody, HELP ME!"_

"_O-okaa-san? W-what-"_

"_Kami…no…this…"_

"_Itachi…why?"_

"AHH!" Sasuke shot up from his bed in a cold sweat, with his nightmare seemingly following him once again into consciousness, the cries, tears and pleas of his kin whispering constantly on his mind. The dreams were all the same and yet different, all being memories of what he had experienced through his Ani_-ITACHI_'s **Tsukuyomi. **Clan members, old and young alike, coldly being slaughtered. Some he knew of course, others he had sparsely glimpsed from time to time, but all were his family none-the-less.

Standing up on trembling legs, Sasuke made his way through the ghostly house to the shower and tried his best to shake off the dreams. After all, as much as he felt ashamed for doing it, if he let himself forget, even just for a moment, then he would feel less pain. He knew that it was selfish and unforgivable, but sometimes, the relief was simply too great to truly regret lifting the strain on his young mind.

Sasuke silently watched as the streams of water raced over his pale skin and down the drain, relenting to allow the weight on his shoulders to go with it, putting his mind at ease with other, perhaps trivial, thoughts. For example, it was Naruto's birthday this week. He turned off the shower's knob, stepping out refreshed and ready for the day, hardly even noticing that the flowing streams had become mere beads of water, slowing falling to the ground behind him.

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Naruto sat up and looked around his small apartment blearily, blinking under his ridiculously over-sized sleeping hat which was shaped as Kami-knows-what animal. As the young blonde slipped out of bed and winced at the dreaded cold-floor-in-the-morning, he let loose a massive yawn that if turned into a jutsu would surely cause mass devastation. Suffice it to say that the whiskered boy was tired. He was annoyed at himself; he knew he should have been used to it by now, but somehow the drunk howling of 'Die Demon die!' never ceased to keep him awake far into the night.

He glanced at his battered old clock hanging above the kitchen window. _Dammit! That late already?_ The blonde grabbed his annoying jumpsuit – yes he loved orange, but come on. He didn't exactly enjoy spending his life as 'The Annoying Orange'. **(A.N: sorry, I couldn't resist ;p I'm sure most of you know what that means, if not then youtube search it people! Ok, I'm done) **He sighed heavily at the idea of skipping breakfast once again, between that and the lack of sleep, was it any wonder that he fell behind in both the physical and educational aspects of academy work. But, just like Hokage-jiji told him, sometimes all you can do is smile, laugh and enjoy what you can. So, plastering his signature grin on, effectively hiding anything else, Naruto set out for the academy in a blur that would have most chunins jealous.

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Sasuke looked at his friend sympathetically, knowing his shame in the below-average mark of the most recent test. The thing was, he _knew_ that Naruto knew the answer, they had done a few homework sessions over the weeks they had become close and Sasuke was surprised to say the least in how much the class dead-last really knew. Although he would not admit it to others, Sasuke wondered if Naruto really could be a worthy rival, and with a little practice, an actual challenge for the Uchiha. Contrary to belief, Sasuke wasn't opposed to the idea of somebody being on equal or even greater skill level then himself, in fact the thought of a real challenge thrilled him, where he would have to work hard, but not be as easily squashed as he was with Itachi. He knew for sure he wasn't on _his_ level yet. Before memories could over-take the dark haired boy, a voice all too familiar irritated him back into the present. It was HER. _SAKURA. _He shuddered.

"Why do you even bother you worthless Baka? You disgust me! Forcing your horrible company on my poor Sasuke-kun and having the nerve to show your face around here, stalking him even at the academy! **(A.N: HYPOCRITE)**" screeched the Bubblegum-Banshee, her huge forehead suddenly looking like the perfect place to write degrading graffiti. Naruto stayed silent, his head bowed.

"…Sakura…" Sasuke said quietly.

"You should just quit, it's not like your ever gonna pass to be a ninja anyway! Even _Shikamaru_ got a better score then you and he spends most of class asleep! Not only that but you dare to try and steal my beloved Sasuke-kun away from me!" Sakura continued, surprisingly not even hearing the object of her obsessive devotion speak.

"…Sakura." Sasuke said more firmly.

"My Tou-san is SO right about you _Naruto_, you should just do everybody and favour and-"

"SAKURA!" Sasuke yelled, shocking everyone, including Shin-Sensei, who had been ignoring the whole incident. Nobody had ever seen the Uchiha raise his voice, let alone show such anger on his once emotionless face.

Sakura looked over at once, staring deeply into a slightly disturbed Sasuke's eyes, relishing in their 'moment'. She looked down, and glancing up through her non-existent eyelashes in what was assumed to attempt cuteness, she blushed in the hopes of looking delicate, but only came off as a pink-haired, pink-faced bipolar Fangirl. Who still hadn't realised Sasuke was pissed off. _This is the smartest girl in the class…? Kami we're doomed…_

The rest of the class couldn't help but either sweat-drop or faceplam at idiocy of the girl, how was she this blind? All the other Fangirls including Ino were relieved at their Sasuke-kun's obvious dislike for the pinkette, and all swearing on their pride, as future Mrs Uchihas, that they would not let their delusional fairy floss-headed rival beat them. There was no way this girl was smarter than them.

"S-sasuke-kun," Sakura tucked a strand of her hideous hair behind her ear, she licked her lips in a 'seductive' manner. "W-what is it Sasuke-kun?"

"Sakura. SHUT. UP."

"W-what? Sasuke-kun I-I'm afraid I don't under-" Sakura stuttered, clearly something was wrong to upset her love this way, but why take it out on her? Then again, she would always be the first thing on his mind, so it wasn't too unrealistic that he would turn automatically to her. Right?

"Understand this _Sakura. _I don't just hate you. I _despise_ you. I am very close to wishing you dead and perhaps even carrying it out myself. So I suggest you sit down, and NEVER insult my friend in that manner ever again. Got it?" Sasuke fumed, his cold fury radiating off him so strongly that some of the closer students leant away in fear of frostbite. Sakura, while shocked, simply refused to believe that her precious Sasuke-kun would say this to her, after all, he loved her! She slowly walked back to her seat, with everybody staring at either her or the angry Uchiha.

"Oh, and Sakura?" Sasuke called out nonchalantly.

Sakura spun around eagerly, knowing for sure that all this would be explained and then Sasuke-kun would swoop her up and carry her off into the sunset…in a wedding dress! She squealed to herself in anticipation and faced her love.

"Ino is wrong about you. Your forehead isn't that big…" Sasuke told her, making her day, while causing some of the Fangirls to fear. "…Your mouth is a hell of a lot bigger than even that billboard. So keep it shut." And he turned back around to face a speechless Shin-Sensei.

The rest of the class was in a similar state. Chouji had stopped eating, his hand frozen halfway out of the chips bag, and his mouth hanging open. Hinata had her hand softly pressed against her mouth in order to cover her gasps of shock and even Kiba and Akamaru were silent. It took Shikamaru's delayed comment of "…Troublesome…" to wake up most of the class, who then strongly showed their reactions. Ino became smug, as did the other Fangirls, and Kiba started laughing insanely.

"Oi, Uchiha! Man that was epic! No idea you had it in you, but Kami I can't blame you!" He howled, Akamaru barking his agreement.

And possibly the second most shocking this of the day-Shino raised not one, but BOTH EYEBROWS!

Naruto however, hadn't stopped staring at Sasuke. Shock didn't even begin to cover what he was feeling at that moment. That somebody had actually defended him, _him,_ Naruto Uzumaki, only made Sasuke that much more of a precious friend to him. _I swear, I'll protect Sasuke from now on, just as he's done for me. And I'll never go back on my word. Hey…that would be a good nindo…_

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The boys were sitting on a familiar little dock, overlooking the lake, the very place that had led to their friendship. Naruto glanced sideways at his first and only friend, internally debating whether to bring up the possibly painful subject or just let it be. But as is so often the case, curiosity and concern won out. He hesitantly turned to the Uchiha.

"H…hey Sasuke…" Naruto started unsurely, which immediately caught the dark boy's attention, as Naruto rarely let his insecurities show to the outside world. Yes, Sasuke knew about the mask the blonde wore, he was a genius after all, yet he doubted anybody else had bothered looking close enough to see the truth, besides the Hokage perhaps. The raven-haired child knew that he and Naruto were far more alike than what he could have ever expected, and yet complete opposites as well. While both orphans, Sasuke's family had been ripped away from him in the cruellest fashion and Naruto had never even been told his parents' names. They both suffered loneliness, Sasuke from his pedestal, too high for anyone to try and climb, and Naruto from his place in the shadows, constantly striving for the light. Naruto hid his pain behind a fake smile and Sasuke simply stopped showing emotions all together. They were Ying and Yang, the sun and the moon, seemingly an odd pairing but nevertheless irrevocably tied together, destinies intertwined.

"Hn…Yeah?" Sasuke had given Naruto an ultimatum – he wouldn't say 'Hn' anymore…if Naruto gave up ramen for good. Needless to say, the 'Hns' were safe. But he still made an effort to speak more.

"…What…exactly…happened to your clan?" Ahh. So that's why he seemed so timid. Sasuke flinched slightly.

"…I thought everybody in the village knew about that." Sasuke avoided the question, wondering how he would ever be able to tell the story with a straight face.

"…Well…you know, people don't really tell me things, and most stop their conversations when I'm around anyway and just glare…you don't have to tell me if-" Naruto quickly backtracked, not wanting to hurt his friend.

"No…its ok I guess." Sasuke closed his eyes briefly, before taking a deep breath and facing his blonde friend. "I…I guess I'll start from the beginning, with my older brother, Uchiha Itachi…"

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"…."

"…..….."

For once in his life, Naruto Uzumaki was totally speechless. His brain was frantically trying to process all of what Sasuke had told him at a furious rate, truly leaving no doubt that this 'dead last's intelligence was very underestimated.

"….Dobe?" Sasuke called him back from his overworking mind, which was close to steaming out of exhaustion and emotional strain.

"I'm not a dobe Teme!" Naruto automatically replied, finding comfort in the habit. He of course didn't really think Sasuke was teme, well, at least most of the time. Just as he knew that Sasuke didn't truly believe him to be a dobe, but such was their increasingly weird relationship. And they wouldn't even think to change it.

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A certain blond-haired Jinchuriki stayed up late that night, but this time is had nothing to do with the drunken curses from the street below. He was thinking over Sasuke's story again, analysing every aspect and vision point he could, but was still unable to draw a conclusion as to why he felt that something was off, it was just too vague. Maybe if he asked Sasuke some of his questions, then he could put his mind to rest, and hopefully Sasuke's as well.

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Sasuke woke that morning, surprisingly early for a Saturday, and look disinterestedly out of his window overseeing the dock that held so many memories, both before and after That Day. Well, his gaze was disinterested, until a spot of yellow caught his trained eyes. _Naruto?_ Sasuke walked hurriedly down to his friend, still in his dark blue pyjamas, predicably displaying the Uchiha fan. His hair was slightly out of its typical style, but he had just woken up, so it was understandable. Naruto also was out of the ordinary, still being his pyjamas himself, although they were not nearly as bright as the Uchiha would have expected. They were a dark blue also, but not close to as dark as Sasuke's own.

"Naruto…?" Sasuke intoned from behind the now startled blond, who whipped around and gained a sheepish expression.

"Heh heh…hey Teme. What's up?"

"You apparently…I figured you for the type to sleep in." The pale boy stated, stifling a yawn.

"Ha! Whatever Sasuke!" Naruto exclaimed, enjoying their friendly banter.

"Well, Dobe? Why are you here so early anyway? Come to admit defeat in light of my obvious superiority?" Sasuke joked, although anybody but Naruto would think him serious.

The blonde's grin faded into a more serious expression, while his eyes showed confusion and unrest. It was then that Sasuke noticed how tired his friend looked, more so even then usual. "About what you told me yesterday Sasuke…it's just, some things don't make any sense!"

Sasuke looked at the blond in stunned surprise; he thought that only he had felt that way. After all he was very biased. But to have someone else think so…to the point of evading sleep as now explained Naruto's dark-rimmed eyes…maybe there was something he was missing after all.

"…Like what?" The dark haired boy asked, his voice barely masking his anticipation. Naruto look out over the lake that had almost claimed his life and let just a few of his thought out.

"Like…like that 'testing capacity' crap. Wouldn't killing you, his own brother be the real test of his capacity? And saying that you weren't worth killing…but a bunch of civilians and kids –hey, even babies! – _they_ were worth killing? Babies, who didn't even know their own last name was Uchiha in the first place! That makes no logical sense. And if anything I've heard means anything, Itachi was at least a brilliant Shinobi. He must have known how illogical that was. But even he probably made the same mistake so many others have and continue to do – they underestimate us. Itachi underestimated you, thinking that you wouldn't look to see that. The question is, if it wasn't to test his capacity, then why?" Naruto looked over at the dark eyed boy behind him, whose jaw has literally hit the deck at the blonde's frustrated speech.

"You…in less than a day you…I always knew something that wasn't right but…I could never see it._ HOW COULD I NEVER SEE THAT?"_ Sasuke was gripping his hair like he was about it tear it off and his eyes looked suspiciously shiny.

"…Because you weren't supposed to see it Sasuke. Didn't you ever wonder why you got **Tsukuyomi**'d right after? Kind of seems like it was used to distract you to me…" the blond trailed off, spying the odd look on the Uchiha's face. "…What? Why're you looking at me weird…? Stop it Teme!"

"…You're a genius. A…_OH MY KAMI YOU'RE A GENIUS!_ How the HELL are you the class dead last again? KAMI!" Sasuke was starting to freak him out now _I think I broke him…oops_ thought the sweat-dropping Uzumaki as he guided his friend back to his mansion. _Whoa…Sasuke-Teme's house is HUGE. But then again his Tou-san was the Clan Head…_Naruto mused, looking over at his still out-of-it friend, who had now taken to mumbling incoherent nonsense to himself. The blond sweat-dropped again and pulled him inside.

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"…You ok now Uchiha?" Naruto asked his friend in concern. He'd never seen Sasuke this…_emotional_ before.

"The class dead-last in a genius…who is also a baka…why me?" Sasuke muttered, then turned to said genius-baka. "I'm fine. Just getting over the shock is all."

"Well, I was kinda thinking we could investigate! You know, like detectives!" The energetic blonde struck an odd pose, holding an imaginary magnifying glass to his eyes and hunching over.

"…I thought you wanted to be a ninja?" Sasuke monotoned back to his friend, but his massive sweat drop gave him away.

"I CAN BE BOTH! I'M NARUTO UZUMAKI, I CAN DO ANYTHING! INCLUDING MAKING SASUKE-TEME TALK! Now, for my next challenge…showing emotions!" The boy had a wide fox smile, while his eyes showed an evil glint of mischief. Sasuke felt a jolt of fear at that look. It never meant anything good. He quickly changed the subject.

"So…detectives huh? How do we go about this?" The blonde was successfully redirected. _Damn I'm good_ thought the relieved Uchiha.

Naruto struck another pose, this time the typical thinking-pose. "Well…we could look in your clan library but I don't know if we'd find much useful…do you still have anything of his? Like a journal or something?"

"No…Itachi was never the sort to write in a journal. He was too private to even share his thoughts with a book. But his…his room was never touched. I hardly went in anyway and since…That Day happened I've hardly been able to look at the door." Sasuke looked down, embarrassed and ashamed at admitting his fear.

"Do…do you think you could? I'll come with you for sure, you won't be alone!" The blond looked him in the eyes, showing no criticism or mocking.

"Yeah…ok" The raven haired boy whispered. He got up from the table and walked up the stairs, Naruto in tow. They stopped outside a plain wooden door, one that showed no signs of being anything special. But just by Sasuke's almost inperceptable shaking, the blond knew that this was it. Itachi's room.

**Hi again, wow this chapter was longer than the last but hopefully I'll be able to keep writing longer ones after this as well. Ja ne!**

**-TITM**


	4. Chapter Three

**Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, I would accuse the Hyuugas of being zombies. Just to start shit.**

**I'm going on a holiday yay! But I likely will still write the next chapter on-and-off. While I know the story's basic outline I'm continuously surprising myself with what happens as I write, it truly does have a life of its own. This is a relatively more serious chapter then the previous ones but that's just how it goes I suppose. Sasuke-Itachi orientated but that's just how it has at this stage developed. Hopefully not to angsty =)**

Sasuke gulped as he reached out hesitantly to the doorknob, but couldn't stop himself from pulling back slightly and looking away. Naruto, seeing his friend's weakness but not judging him in the least, stretched his own arm in front of Sasuke and pushed open the daunting wooden entrance. Gently pulling the darker boy along with him, Naruto walked into the reasonably sized room and took in his surroundings. A single bed was made tidily, off against the right wall, with the headboard resting near the window opposite the doorway. The Uchiha fan was painted on the wall above the bed, standing out against the wall's dark blue-black paint. A basic wooden wardrobe stood tall to the left side of the room, with a desk piled up with book and scrolls next to it. The drawers on the desk needed a key to be opened, but they would find a way around that fact.

Sasuke meanwhile has slipped silently to the floor, memories of his limited time in that particular room assaulting him relentlessly. It was just like Itachi, this room. When he voiced his thought to Naruto, the blonde tilted his head and asked, "How so?"

"It…looks too perfect. Everything is tidy and clean but if you look closer there is nothing to suggest someone actually ever lived here at all. No photos, no personal items, nothing. The only thing Itachi ever owned that seemed to mean anything to him was his necklace. It was just some simple metal thing that he got as a graduation present from Kaa-san. I was always so jealous about it because it made him look so cool. But he's probably got rid of it a long time ago by now…" Sasuke trailed off, meeting Naruto's surprised gaze. It wasn't often that Sasuke would speak of his brother so freely after all. In an odd way, finally opening Itachi's door seemed to bring just a little more peace to his friend.

"…You know Sasuke…" Naruto started, looking down. "I saw you together a couple of times. At the park. I was always so jealous…" he trailed off, but once again found his resolve. "I know a lot about fake smiles Sasuke. Hell, I'm an expert. But when I saw you guys together…those weren't fake. When your mouth smiles but your eyes lie…no one can fake that."

Sasuke stayed silent, trying to push the blonde's words from his mind, they just made everything that much more confusing. After an awkward silence, Naruto changed the subject, consequently changing the mood back to that of apprehensive anticipation, determination and curiosity.

"Well," the blond said cheerfully "Let's get snooping, shall we?"

Sasuke smirked and nodded the affirmative.

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Luckily for Naruto, who had opted to search the crowded desk while Sasuke raided the closet, the key for the drawers was located among the various clan scrolls that he would be sure to give to Sasuke later. He opened the left draw, which was filled with inks, brushes and anything else that would be needed for things such as mission reports. Also tucked away were Itachi's various awards and acknowledgements that he had been given during his brief but spectacular time as a shinobi of Konoha. Leaving the draw unlocked, the blond went to the right draw, this one being the most surprising out of them all. Sitting innocently there was a black, spiral-bound book with the Kanji for 'Weasel' on the front and 'Raven' on the back. Before Naruto could investigate more he heard a gasp come from his dark-haired friend and walked over to where Sasuke was sitting on the edge of Itachi's bed. He was holding an ANBU mask.

"…Is that…?" Naruto questioned quietly. Sasuke replied with a numbed nod and gestured to the closet which now had a standard-albeit smaller than average- ANBU uniform laid out in front of it.

"I…I've never seen his mask before. We weren't supposed to know who he was undercover. It's the protocol." Sasuke was whispering. He just couldn't tear his eyes away from his brother's mask. "What…do you think it is? Looks like a bird…"

"A raven." Naruto stated. Sasuke looked up finally, confused.

"How-" The paler boy was interrupted by the blond lifting up the black book he had found earlier. Seeing the 'Raven' Kanji, Sasuke understood instantly. Opening the book from the 'Raven' side, both boys were shocked to see charcoal drawings. And they were really good too! The dark sketches were primarily black, grey and white, but had red mixed in occasionally. Studying the bloody images, Sasuke realised that while Itachi never kept a journal, these pieces represented his missions in the ANBU. A crimson sword lying in the moonlight surrounded my darkness, and Iwa headbands. A large raven sitting atop of a pile of corpses, Sharingan staring. A young boy, around sixteen, with what appeared to be a gag in his mouth, arms and legs tied to a small chair, and face screwed up in pain as he was tortured by a 'Wolf' ANBU. Unable to look anymore, Sasuke signalled Naruto to turn the book to the front, were the 'Weasel' portion began.

Expecting much of the same, it was even more shocking to say the least when the first picture was of the Hokage Mountains, followed by a sketch of Konoha at sunset. Glancing at each other, Naruto flipped the page and froze. A charcoal only drawing, not using harsh lines like the 'Raven' side, was a picture of who could only be a younger Sasuke. Around three years old perhaps, the boy was smiling widely and holding out his hands for something unknown, his trademark hair poking out behind him.

Among various Uchiha fans and Sharingans were depictions of family gatherings and small moments that Sasuke had long ago forgotten. Things as simple as family dinner together, or Kaa-san smiling as she worked in the kitchen. The two sides of the same book were so vastly different and clearly showed the severity of Itachi's double life. The further on the boys looked however, the darked the 'Weasel' side became. A menacing Fugaku glaring down with his blood red eyes. A broken grave, with the Uchiha fan being the only marker, in front of a raging river. _Shisui…_Sasuke thought. Next was the all too familiar Uchiha fan split by a kunai. By now the 'Weasel' side was reaching the middle of the book, becoming one with that of the 'Raven'. The joining page was drawn out across both sides, showing a single silhouette under a red moon, surrounded by shadows and blood. Naruto looked at Sasuke who had started to hyperventilate, knowing what this picture represented. That Day. And the worst thing, was that Itachi had left straight after it had happened –so, who knows how long he had been planning it?

Standing shakily Sasuke walked over to the desk, to put away the terrifying book, to lock it away again, this time forever. But his eyes caught something else down the back of the draw. It was a single photo frame, a simple dark-stained wooden frame, but it was the picture it held that drew Sasuke's tears to the surface. A disgruntled version of himself riding high on Itachi's shoulders, while Itachi himself was looking up with a small smile gracing his stoic features. He remembered now, his Kaa-san whipping out the camera when she had seen them. But the young Uchiha had never seen this photo before – so why did Itachi have it? And why was it hidden, under lock and key even? It made no sense at all! Shaking his head, Sasuke put it the draw, closing it firmly. But not locking it.

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The house was silent, as was familiar to the young boy who resided there. The frustrated Uchiha glared into the darkness, trying to ignore the clock which taunted him. 1:36 Am. And still, the raven child could not sleep. If anything, Itachi's room had raised far more questions than it had answered. With an angry sigh, Sasuke sat upright, threw off his covers and walked downstairs to the kitchen. Unfortunately, in his tired state, he could not force back the memories.

_A younger, happier Sasuke ran down the stairs of his family's home, taking them two at a time and very nearly falling. He dashed to the bright kitchen; his feet skidding as he abruptly came to a halt at the door frame. His Kaa-san stood with her back to him; humming to herself as she put the finishing touches on a magnificent cake, coated in red icing and designed to resemble a tomato, six candles adorning the surface._

_Hearing his laboured breathing, she turned around and swiftly embraced the grinning boy. "Happy birthday Sasuke."_

Overcome by his grief, Sasuke fled the kitchen, never even stepping through the door. He had turned seven a few weeks ago…his first birthday alone. He hadn't even told Naruto, it passed as just another day. _As it should be_.

Leaving his depressing thoughts downstairs, he headed back towards his room, only to stop at Itachi's slightly ajar door. He reached to close it, but somehow ended up pushing it open and walking in once again. With a pain filled sigh, Sasuke walked over to the window and stared into the sky._ Itachi…there's so much I don't understand. Who are you really? Itachi, my Aniki or Uchiha Itachi, the murderer? I thought I knew…but each time something changes and leaves me completely clueless again…_

Backing away from the glass, preparing to leave, Sasuke's ears caught a faint creak from under his bare foot. Unsure of what he was doing, the young boy bent down and ran his fingers along the floorboard. There was a gap. Hooking his nails and pulling, the wood lifted to reveal a small hidden space. Inside was some kind of dark blue object. Hesitantly, Sasuke pulled it out. Taking off what was now identified to be blue paper, he found…Itachi's necklace._ But why would he put it here?_ Sasuke studied the agonisingly familiar accessory, until he noticed a small white piece of card fall from the discarded paper. He gasped at what he read.

**To my Otouto,**

**I see how much you admired my own necklace Sasuke, therefore, as proof of how proud I am of your progress, I am gifting you the same thing as Kaa-san gifted me when I left the Academy. You shall go far Otouto, wear it with pride. Happy birthday.**

**Uchiha Itachi**

Letting the card fall to the floor, Sasuke wrapped himself in his own arms, sobbing his heart out.

"_Aniki!" Sasuke pouted at his brother, who glanced at him with hidden amusement._

"…_yes Otouto? You should be in bed, what is it?"_

"_Why're you so cool all the time! Tou-san is always so proud and Kaa-san gave you a present and it wasn't even your birthday yet! It's no fair, how are you so good? Can you teach me? Please! I wanna be like you Nii-san!"_

_Itachi sighed at the antics of his little brother. "I can't teach you to be somebody you're not Sasuke."_

_Sasuke was extremely disappointed, he would never be anything compared to Itachi-nii-san._

"_However." Itachi stated, bring Sasuke's attention back to him. "I have every belief that you will surpass me in your own time Sasuke, and in your own way. Its…like a growth spurt. I may seem to have it all from a young age, but you will continue to grow at your own pace, and very well may continue even after I have stopped. Never doubt yourself Otouto. Every person is different. And who knows," Itachi smirked at his awestruck brother, "Maybe you will even get a necklace like mine one day."_

_Sasuke bounced up and down in excitement, "So we can match?"_

_Itachi chuckled. "Yes Otouto, we can match."_

_Sasuke yawned sleepily, closing his eyes, now that his internal drama was over. "…Love you Aniki…"_

"…_Love you too Otouto." Was the elder's whispered reply. But Sasuke was already asleep._

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October 10th, Naruto's birthday. Sasuke ran to the Academy, hoping to beat his friend there, but he was running late. Around his neck, hidden under his high collar, was Sasuke's necklace. He had put it on only once, just out of curiosity, and couldn't bring himself to take it off. He had worn it for three days straight now, leaving it on even to sleep and bathe. He told himself that he just thought it looked good. That it had nothing to do with Itachi. So why did it make him feel so…proud?

Skidding to a stop outside of the Academy gates, Sasuke put his mind to rest and walked towards his classroom, where his friend was waiting for him.

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Naruto walked home from Sasuke's house with a giant grin on his whiskered face. Nobody but Hokage-jiji had ever given him a birthday present before! Reaching up once again to clutch his gift, the Uzumaki remembered the moment he had received it.

_Both boys walked away from the Academy together, ignoring the sneers and glares thrown Naruto's way, and the worried ones directed at the quieter boy. Sasuke had asked him to come over after school, which wasn't anything unusual, but the blond was a bit surprised that Sasuke wouldn't be going to the festival that evening. It was the most anticipated event in Konoha each year after all. But then again, the boy thought sadly, just like himself, the Uchiha would only feel alone in even such a large crowd. Naruto himself wasn't going, it was like his presence angered the villagers even more than usual, like he was bringing down their happy moods, causing more and more resentment each year._

_As they arrived at the Uchiha compound, instead of heading to Sasuke's house, both automatically kept walking, until they arrived at 'their' little dock by the lake._

Naruto smiled more softly as he recalled his friend pulling out a small orange wrapped parcel from his over-sized jacket.

_The blond stared in shock and wonder at the simple, and yet detailed necklace. It was on a sturdy silver chain, but not too thick, and hanging off it was something that resembled the Uchiha fan-only this had an outlined orange swirl in the middle of the typical red and white centre. Looking questionably at the dark-haired boy, Sasuke answered with a "Hn."_

_At Naruto's single raised eyebrow, the young Uchiha sighed and looked away, slightly embarrassed. What if he didn't like it? Or thought it was a weird idea? "It's my crest and your swirl. We're kinda the closest thing to family each other has right now so…" Sasuke shrugged, trying to pass it off as nothing. Naruto got a huge grin on his face and glomped the pale boy, hiding his slightly teary eyes._

"_Thank you."_

The blond was forced out of his happy memories as a hail of shuriken hit his left side. He fell to the ground, only to be surrounded by a mob of Civilians and Shinobi alike, some brandishing various weapons and others with nothing but their fists and eyes full of bloodlust. The streets ran red that night. The night that he found out the truth about the Kyuubi no Kitsune.

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Sasuke was worried. Naruto hadn't come to school today. He had never been sick before…it was if the blond was immune or something. Shin-sensei on the other hand was in a very good mood today, it had never been a secret that he had disliked Naruto, along with majority of the adults who Sasuke had seen looking hatefully at his blond friend. More than a few had approached him and warned him to stay away from Naruto, saying it was for his own good, and they were just _concerned_ for him. That his name as the last Uchiha of Konoha would be tarnished by 'trash like that brat.' Bastards, all of them. Ignoring a babbling Ino next to him –Sakura had missed the position by a forehead-Sasuke turned to the window and blocked out the repetitive drone of the classroom._ Where are you Naruto?_

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The young Uchiha trudged home solemnly. He had stopped by Naruto's dingy apartment, even that place called Ichiraku's that Naruto had told him about. But not a sign of the blond anywhere. Sasuke swore to himself that he would check with the Hokage tomorrow if Naruto still couldn't be found, it was a Saturday after all. Without Naruto, what else would he do anyway?

Sighing, the Onyx-eyed boy looked over to the lake – and saw Naruto, sitting at the dock. Hurrying over, Sasuke stopped dead at seeing the many bruises and bandages covering almost all of his friend's skin. Throwing his bag to the side, the Uchiha ran over and crouched down by the blond, who was shaking and refusing to look him in the eye.

"Naruto…what the hell happened to you?" Sasuke asked quietly, completely clueless as to how to deal with the situation.

"…You should leave Sasuke. I'll only hurt you. I'm a demon. I'm evil."

Sasuke was scared of the quality in the blonde's voice…so hopeless and lost.

"Of course you aren't a demon Baka, now come inside before you catch a cold Dobe."

"I am. I am a demon. Yondaime sealed Kyuubi in me Sasuke. So you can go now. Unless you want to kill me too. That's ok I guess. I'd rather it be you anyway." Naruto's eyes, once full of such laughter were now desolate and empty. But not cold. Never cold.

"You are not a demon. And what the hell do you mean about the Yondaime?"

Naruto told the confused Uchiha what Hokage-jiji had explained to him, after one of the villagers had said far too much in their rage._ "DIE, KYUUBI DIE! WE WILL FINISH WHAT OUR YONDAIME-SAMA STARTED!" _While the scream was met by an uproar of approval, it was ultimately the man's downfall. He had been executed by ANBU on the spot. The Hokage had been forced to tell Naruto the truth, although he had wished that he could have had more of a childhood before he was told of his curse. Finishing his story with what the Hokage had told him as he left, _"You were supposed to be seen as a hero, Naruto. It was the Yondaime's last request. But grief causes people to do horrible things, and I'm so sorry that I could not stop it. Naruto, despite what you may have been told, you are no more the Kyuubi than my robe is the Hokage. Just because something is in it, doesn't make them the same." Naruto nodded, not really believing him, and walked out.  
><em> 

This time, it was Sasuke who was speechless. After taking a moment to regain his wits, he jumped up and screamed, "I'M GONNA KILL THAT YONDAIME!"

Naruto, even in his saddened state, couldn't stop from bursting out laughing. "He's –ah ha ha ha- already dead –hee hee- Sasuke! O-only you would swear revenge on –ha- a dead man!" Tears were rolling down the blondes face as he laughed, although it wasn't really that funny. His laughs soon turned to sobs and he clung to Sasuke who had embraced him at some point in his hysteria.

Minutes, or perhaps hours later, neither boy could tell, Naruto pulled away from the dark-haired boy and smiled a true smile, not one of his fake grins. "Thank you Sasuke."

"Hn, like I would abandon you over something like that." The Uchiha rolled his eyes.

"But…I mean, aren't you even a little scared?" The Jinchuriki was really curious now, why was Sasuke so different?

The pale boy shrugged, glancing out over the lake to the setting sun. "Some people would call the Uchihas' demons, because of our red eyes and unnatural abilities we gain from the Sharingan. Not Konoha of course, but other places. We were practically worshipped here. It's ridiculous really."

Sighing, Sasuke looked his friend in the eyes and said, "People are born into things, or have stuff happen to them. But you're hardly a demon, that I know. A Dobe, yes. Demon, no."

"Dammit Teme, I'm not a Dobe!" exclaimed the Uzumaki, but he couldn't hide the relief from his face. Turning back, both boys watched the sun go down.

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As the moon rose over the quieting village of Konoha, Sasuke and Naruto lay on their dock, watching the stars. Crickets chirped and a soft breeze brushed past the boys, rustling the grass but hardly rippling the still water of the great lake. Both the blond and the brunette were off in a world of their own thoughts, until Sasuke broke the trance by sitting up and looking questionably to his friend, who had just opened his big blue eyes, which even the lake itself paled to. The young Uchiha's pale skin shone, rivalling the moon itself, his eyes and hair dark as ink. Naruto's bright hair was duller without the sunlight, but still seemed to glow with his innocence. However long that may last.

"…What's up Sasuke? You have this weird look on your face…you ok?"

"Naruto…why are we here?"

"…How do you mean? As in here in, life or here outside?" Naruto began the difficult task of getting his quiet friend to elaborate.

"I mean…here, Konoha. This place…what ties us here?"

"…We live here Sasuke. The people might not be the greatest, but when we're ninjas we will protect it with our lives." The insightful boy shrugged, "It's just how it is."

"But…even if we do that, why are we here _now_?" Sasuke was having trouble putting his thoughts into words, a common problem for most Uchihas. Sometimes it was better just to not speak. Less misunderstandings. "We…we have no family, nobody who _really_ cares. And instead of training to become strong we have to sit through history lessons with _Fangirls_ for almost five years! I just…I feel that if I stay here I will never know the truth. About everything. Itachi…my clan, hell even life in general. I just don't fit in here, this isn't my place…I feel like I'm suffocating here Naruto. Suffocating in the darkness, surrounded my voices shallowly praising me. I can't breathe…it scares me." Sasuke whispered, looking down, ashamed. Uchihas didn't get scared.

"…Sasuke?" Naruto was suddenly afraid, was his only friend leaving him? "…what are you going to do?"

"…I think I'm leaving." The dark boy spoke, confirming the Jinchuriki's fears. Naruto couldn't speak, and simply looked away, tears struggling not to fall.

"…And…I think you should too." The Uchiha told his shaking friend, who spun his head back in surprise and shock.

"M-me? But…I can't leave!" The blond was afraid and hesitant, but also relieved that Sasuke didn't want to abandon him.

"Why? Everybody treats you like shit here Naruto. The Hokage might care but he has a whole village to watch over, so you're basically alone! If you stay here then no matter what you do people will see you the same way. But if you come back years later, all grown up and with awesome skills they will _have _to see you differently, right? It's time to show them all what Uzumaki Naruto can become! We'll make them take back their words and glares and shove them up their own asses!" Sasuke was now panting after that rare speech, more than most Uchiha's would have said in a month.

"…I…I guess…but…where will we go?_ How_ can we go? And, and, money and stuff!"

"Look…it's probably gonna be hard. But we're supposed to be Shinobi right? Nothing is meant to be easy, especially becoming great." Sasuke could see that his blond friend was warming up to the idea, so it was time to throw in the clincher. "We will be legendary! Plus…who knows, maybe you could even become Hokage one day! This is our once-in-a-lifetime chance Naruto…the question is, do you want to take it?"

"H-Hokage?...HELL YEAH!" Rationality reared its head briefly once again, " But Sasuke, just one more thing…wouldn't we be hunted down and dragged back? I don't want to be a criminal, I only just turned seven!" Worry ceased the younger boy's brow, but soon turned to confusion at seeing the blank-faced Uchiha break into a mischievous grin.

"But it's impossible for us to be Missing-nin Naruto. After all, we're not even officially Ninjas, are we?" He glanced slyly to his best friend, "…Yet."

The now excited blond grinned as well, his far out stretching Sasuke's. "Yet. Damn Uchiha, this is going to be something…legendary."

**The whole drawing book thing was completely unplanned and just somehow ended up written down, to my surprise. For those who don't know, Itachi means Weasel, so the book signified his double life, slowly becoming one as 'Weasel' (Itachi) was forced to disappear and become 'Raven' 24/7. The two lives collided and resulted in the Uchiha Massacre. Poor Itachi (I love him).**


	5. Chapter Four

**Disclaimer: I…disclaim. Creative, ne? Well, I kinda wish I could disclaim Shin-Sensei. How did I create this guy again? In a split second? Yeah.**

**SORRY this is so late! But on the bright side, my laptop is fixed! Oh yeah!**

**Ok, I just started Sociology as a class. First focus is the social development, behaviour etc. etc. of Youth. And whenever I hear, see or think 'Youth', I picture Gai in his infamous pose. It's quite distracting…**

He still couldn't wrap his head around it. He and Sasuke were really going to leave the village. He had lived here his whole life...so admittedly, he was scared. And excited. And _so_ confused, but Naruto refused to have any regrets. Although endings are sad, they make way for new beginnings, with who knows what in store for them…no one who knows their past lives and status…maybe he could finally find a place – people – that would accept him for who he was. As long as they didn't find out about Kyuubi. A new life…a better life. New places, new people and new experiences! It was becoming so easy to harden his resolve. Yes, this was the right thing to do. For himself, and for his friend. Naruto slept easier than ever that night, with a true smile on his peaceful face.

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"So, any plans yet Almighty Uchiha Sasuke?" Naruto said jokingly to the young raven, who just rolled his eyes. They were sitting by the Academy swings, eating their lunch away from Sasuke's rabid Fangirls, who were currently in an annual –weekly- meeting, discussing the godliness that was their 'Sasuke-kun'.

"Dobe. Of course I have a plan." The said Uchiha lied through his pearly white teeth. "I just have to see the Hokage after school to…check something."

Truthfully, all the dark-haired boy knew was that he had to ask about his clan's vast wealth, which would undoubtfully some in handy for the boys while travelling. Throwing their rubbish in the bin, the plotting children made their way back into an unsuspecting classroom.

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Shin-sensei was back. Oh _joy_. And for the first day of chakra theory too. The boys couldn't be more _thrilled_.

"OK children, now, you all should know what chakra is by now, correct?"

A harmonised drone of "Yes, Shin-Sensei" came from the said group of children, all but a certain Uchiha, who just snorted. And that Shino guy. He could totally be asleep and nobody would even know. Perhaps Shikamaru should consider modifying his own attire in order to maximize his relax time…nah, too troublesome.

"Now, I want you all to close your eyes. Some of you may already be able to feel the energy coursing inside you, while other may not for a few years still. You will eventually learn how to access and use your chakra for your purposes, such as –but not limited to- Ninjutsu, Genjutsu or even to enhance your senses. Kiba, I believe your clan does this to make your already keen sense of smell further heightened, correct?"

"Yeah! It's so awesome right, way better than some lame-ass Kekkei Genkai - no offence Hinata." Kiba backtracked, forgetting Sasuke, who was slightly miffed.

"Kiba! You will apologize to Sasuke-kun immediately!" Shin-Sensei yelled, using the familiar suffix as many did. After all, being the Sensei of 'The Last Uchiha' was doing wonders for his ego, and social status.

"…Fine. Sorry Uchiha." Kiba grumbled, his puppy barking in agreement.

"Hn."

Naruto rolled his eyes at Sasuke's monosyllable answer, having chosen to stay out of this issue. For once the 'loud idiot' was quiet, and deep in thought. He had a theory…but it would just have to be tested later. Right now Shin-Sensei was demanding attention once again.

"Now! With that over with, let's see if any of you can feel your chakra yet."

"But Shin-Sensei," Sakura inquired, she was going to impress Sasuke-kun with her brilliance, for sure! "How do we know what it feels like?"

"I can't describe it Sakura. You'll just know if you feel it. Now, reach down deep inside yourself, to the middle of your chests, right at the core, and see if you feel anything at all."

The class was silent as the students closed their eyes, all but Sakura, who was still eying Sasuke far too lustily for a seven year old, in anybody's opinion.

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Hokkaido Shin stood, arms crossed at the head of the classroom, dully scanning for any chakra signatures developed enough to sense from his students, his eyes closed in order to do so more efficiently. A few were quite reasonable, particularly the clan heirs.

Hyuuga Hinata was emitting a gentle thrum of chakra, especially around her eyes, as expected of a Hyuuga of course. The Nara boy's and the Akimichi's pulsed softly around them, as did the Inuzuka's, which was already showing a connection to his canine companion's, as most Inuzuka's do at some point. Their bond must have been very strong. Strangely enough, Shino, heir to the Aburame's, chakra felt more like chakra strings, attached and synchronised with each bug inside of his body. Repressing a shudder, Shin moved on to Yamanaka Ino, who in spite of her fangirling tendencies, had obviously trained as expected of a clan heir, although her reserves were smaller than the others'. Sakura Haruno however, had obviously never done so much as swept a floor in her life, with only the bare minimum of chakra required to stay alive. Moving past the Demon without so much as a momentary sweep, and on to the true gem of the class, his precious Uchiha Sasuke. His eyes snapped open in shock.

The boy was actually _moulding_ chakra to his will! Most students could not do that until they were ten, nine at least! But then again, this was Uchiha Itachi's younger brother.

"Sasuke-kun!" Shin-Sensei called with pride, as if he had trained the boy himself. "You are far beyond expectations! Why, it won't be long before you can start learning Jutsus!"

"I already know a few fire Jutsus Shin-Sensei…I was taught them…_before_."

Shin's jaw hit the floor. He_ already_ knew Jutsu? MULTIPLE FIRE JUTSUS? The corrupt Sensei's eyes gleamed in a kind of greed as he foresaw his coming praise for this boy's talent.

"Amazing, amazing Sasuke-kun! Perhaps you would like to demonstrate for the class? Come children, we shall go to the training ground." Shin-Sensei puffed out his chest as he paraded his little minions out the door.

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"Now Sasuke-kun, could you demonstrate for us the **Katon: Goukakyuu no jutsu (Fire Element: Grand Fireball)** please? It is a well-known Uchiha move, correct?"

"Yes Sensei." Sasuke walked a safe distance away from the class, but just as he began to inhale, he was interrupted by a certain annoying Sensei.

"Wait Sasuke-kun, I think it would be best if you demonstrated real life situation to the class, and as such you need a moving target. De-Uzumaki, get over there."

The class gasped in shock. "But Shin-Sensei," cried Chouji, "He could die! It's too dangerous!"

Shin chuckled darkly, wishing for just that. "Don't worry Chouji, I wouldn't let anything harm a student of mine."_ Including a demon in disguise. And not even Hokage-Sama could prosecute the last Uchiha for his demise, its perfect!_

Said 'Last Uchiha' shrugged nonchalantly, while he internally raised an eyebrow. It had never been a secret of Shin-Sensei's prejudice, but wasn't this a little extreme? If Sasuke didn't know that Naruto would be fine, he would have refused, Uchiha image be damned.

Naruto grinned his I-know-you-hate-me-but-I'm-still-happy-so-screw-you smile, and bounded over to where his friend was waiting.

Shin suppressed an evil smirk. "OK Sasuke-kun, let see what you've got! No holding back!"

Naruto – of course – had his own comment. "Yeah Sasu-chan-teme! Bring it on!"

Wincing from the high pitch of the Fangirls' screeches, Sasuke glared at his 'innocent' blue eyed friend. Oh, he would get it alright. Bring his hand to his mouth he began the show.

"**Katon: Goukakyuu no jutsu**!" The dark-haired boy spat an enormous ball of fire in the blonde's direction, causing their fellow classmates to gasp in shock, some shutting their eyes, too inexperienced to bear seeing the carnage that was once Uzumaki Naruto.

Naruto himself however, just stood there calmly, before calling out, "**Fuuton: Kazekyuu no jutsu (Wind Element: Wind Sphere)**!"

A large ball of wind then smashed into the oncoming fireball, blowing it out like a candle and swamping the onlookers in the heated air, many of whom swallowed it due to their jaws being on the floor. Naturally, the loud ones recovered first.

"W-WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!" screamed a pale Kiba, who couldn't take his eyes off the 'class dead last'.

"NARUTO-BAKA! HOW DARE YOU DESTROY SASUKE-KUN'S BEAUTIFUL FLAMES OF LOVE! I'll kick your ass for that!" Sakura yelled, a vein on her head only moments from popping._ I'm going to get him for that! I should beat him up right now, cha!_ Thought the weak little cupcake, as if she had already forgotten the display of power he had just shown. Everybody stared at the airy-fairy in disbelief. Kami.

"Yeah, what was that? I thought you were the dead last!" cried a shocked but-more-tolerable Ino, whose pupil-less blue eyes were, for once, not fixed on 'Sasuke-kun'.

"Eh heh heh…" Naruto sheepishly rubbed the back of his head, further mussing his unruly spikes.

Shin-Sensei finally snapped out of it. "UZUMAKI! Where-WHO taught you that!" His face had turned red with anger, and he looked like he was restraining himself from flinging a Kunai at the blonde boy.

"Well, Sasuke explained how he did it…so I tried…but wind came out instead…"

"But wind only fuels fire…right?" asked a rightfully confused Chouji, who began to eat his chips once again.

It was Shikamaru who answered. "Usually, yeah. But with strong enough wind it could theoretically be blown out. Like a lamp or birthday candle." He drawled, slouching. "Trust Naruto to be so troublesome."

Meanwhile, Shin had sunk into his thoughts once again._ Impossible! The Demon is recovering his abilities far faster than I predicted! This must end now, before he gains greater power! Hokage be damned, he's too infected to think straight! _Everybody had already suffered so much from this abomination, including his own genin teammates, Mizuki and Iruka. Due to losses during the attack, the number of Kunouchis was considerably less, leading to multiple all-male teams.

Turning around, Shin caught the sight of his student walking back to the classroom, already accepting the previous situation as a fluke of luck. After all, as if a dobe could _actually_ be equal to_ Uchiha Sasuke_. Oh, how little they knew.

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"The Uchiha funds? Why would you want access to them all of a sudden? Is your monthly allowance unsatisfactory?" The Sandaime Hokage asked Sasuke curiously, where had this come from?

"Not at all Hokage-sama, but if the need should ever arise, I wish to know how to use it easily." The raven boy replied coolly.

"Very well then, I will write you a note to give to the bank, stating that you can do what you wish with your inheritance. Usually you would not receive such until you had reached the age of Genin at least, but due to circumstances I will make an exception."

"Thank you, Hokage-sama."

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The heavyset civilian woman looked down at Sasuke from over her glasses rims, only to brighten with a smile at recognising the village's Uchiha-sama, and with him Hokage-sama!

"Hello, my name is Emi, how can I help you today?" …Her overly cheerful tune made Sasuke flinch.

"Hello Emi-san, Sasuke here is just being introduced to the bank's system, I'm sure you can help us?" The Sandaime replied kindly, all the while looking at said Uchiha from the corner of his eyes as Emi-san left to retrieve what she required. _Is he always this…silent?_

He hastily looked up, as Emi-san had returned with a bank scroll. She was smiling in a sickening-sweet way, as if she had a mouth full of sugar.

"Here you go Uchiha-sama, this a bank scroll. To check the balance of your scroll, simply write it in Kanji and wait for the numbers to appear. Now, all you need to do is have whatever sum of money you wish sealed into it by one of our former-Shinobi staff, and then you are free to take it out at your leisure, kind of like a giant wallet! All you need to do is write the amount you want to withdraw in blood on the blank scroll, and poof! There you go!" She exclaimed proudly, as if she had designed it herself.

"Excellent." smiled the Sandaime, "Well, I'm sorry Sasuke, but must be getting back to my paperwork…sadly, it waits for no one, not even the Hokage. Good evening Emi-san, Sasuke." He waved before poofing away.

"So, Uchiha-sama," Emi began, "How much can I seal for you today?"

"I would like all of the Uchiha funds. Everything." Sasuke demanded, staring blankly into a now shocked Emi's eyes apathetically.

Emi paled drastically, and her hands struggled not to shake. To lose that much money…all at once…surely the bank would not allow this!

"I-I'm sorry Uchiha-sama…but it is…I mean…you are not yet of age to access that account." She finished, satisfied.

Until Sasuke held out a note, signed by the Hokage-sama himself.

'Uchiha Sasuke is to have full access and rein over his entire inheritance and the remaining Uchiha clan funds before his originally allocated age, due to unforeseen circumstances. This exception is approved by the Sandaime Hokage, and currently applies only to Uchiha Sasuke.

Sarutobi Hiruzen, Sandaime Hokage of Konohagakure.'

Twenty minutes later, and reluctantly, trying – and failing - to withhold her building anime-tears, Emi-san handed over the bank scroll containing all of the Uchiha clan's wealth to a smirking seven year old.

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"So, how much is in there anyway?" asked a curious blue-eyed boy to his scroll-wielding friend.

Sasuke shrugged. He hadn't bothered to check. He bit his thumb, and slowly and carefully wrote the Kanji for 'Balance'. After a moment the amount of money in his possession was revealed.

Sasuke, the 'Last Uchiha', fain-erm, blacked out.

After all, the Uchiha were a very, _very_ wealthy clan.

Naruto raised an eyebrow at his unconscious friend, figuring that it was better just to accept that they would most definitely be fine. A loud crashing and scream caught his attention briefly, only to reveal another Genin team trying to capture Tora, the Fire Daimyo's Wife's cat. Not even the various Jounin Senseis would get involved, leaving it to their poor little Genin. Nobody wanted anything to do with the dangerous cat.

And it was out of that, that the beginnings of an idea started to form.

But for now, he had best drag the Uchiha home.

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Sasuke sat back against his bedhead, running his mind over what Naruto had thought up. Well…it certainly had a better chance than his 'Let-us-out-now-or-else' plan…not that he had _really_ considered it…just a thought…anyway, after an hour and a half of brainstorming, the boys now had the final product. Fingering his necklace, the raven boy let an out of character grin grow across his face. _Soon,_ he told himself, _soon we can finally be free…and maybe find some answers as well._ But they would have to wait until the week had come to an end, as it would immediately set off alarm bells if both boys were absent from class. And, admittedly, they needed a head start.

He sunk down into his mattress, for one of the last times, and fell into a rare –but increasingly more common - nightmare free sleep.

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Finally. Friday had arrived. It started out as a usual day at the Academy – Shikamaru sleeping, Chouji eating, Fangirls squealing and Shin-Sensei droning on in his superior manner. Nobody even glanced twice as the blonde and the Uchiha sat together towards the back of the room, it had become almost ritual by now anyway, despite the Fangirls' outrage and dismay.

Hinata still blushed when Naruto looked her way, Kiba still talked to his dog and Shino…was still Shino. Sakura, however, was different today. She was _louder_. Not one person had even thought it possible for the pitch of the Banshee's shrieks to increase, at one point it had caused Shino's bugs to get all loopy, and Akamaru to whine, hiding in his master's coat.

_I swear -_ the dozy Nara was actually awake, just thinking, - _that girl defies all rationalism when it comes to her voice. Perhaps it would be useful in a battle situation…to stun and/or incapacitate the enemy…but then again, our own would suffer equally. Troublesome…_

The day passed and ended as it always had and was naturally assumed it always would, all unsuspecting that the Uchiha and the Uzumaki would never attend again.

A small cheeky smile was flashed to the dark-haired boy, the blonde receiving the smallest smirk in return. It was time.

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The Sandaime Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen sighed as he mournfully put yet another completed piece of paperwork on the smallest pile on the desk, being the 'finished' pile of course. Well, it was time for a break. One cannot stay sane after any more than three hours straight of the god forsaken paperwork, and the last thing Konoha needed was a mentally unstable leader, especially with Iwa after their heads and Suna's alliance going through a tense stage that could last years if not dealt with properly.

Sighing, Hiruzen took the time to reflect on anything and everything that could possibly pass the time. His grandson Konohamaru, for example, was so young and yet already growing so fast! Two years old and the boy was running around –falling over often- and exclaiming to anyone who would listen that he was going to beat his grandfather and be Hokage. Of course, everybody simply smiled indulgingly and said "Perhaps one day you will 'Honourable-Grandson'." Then Kono-chan would pout and yell that his name was _Konohamaru_ and _not_ 'Honourable-Grandson'…but by then people had stopped listening.

In a way, his grandson reminded him of Naruto, the young blonde who was very much like another grandchild to him, although he was unable to be there for him all the time, being Hokage was a very busy and serious job after all. Naruto had a way of brightening up the day for those that would allow themselves to see the light…those who didn't however remained in their own world of darkness. Surprisingly, it seemed that Naruto had even got the young Uchiha out of his hole and into the sunlight…but then again, the day that Naruto stopped surprising him was the day the world had truly ended. He was glad the blonde had made such a close friend, even if that friend was as troubled as Sasuke.

Sasuke. Now, that boy really had kept him awake at night. After the foolhardy council had given the order to eradicate the Uchiha clan, he had inwardly wept for the fate of his people, however misguided or corrupt some of them may have been. But it was when the young Uchiha prodigy Itachi had come to him, covered in blood and in tears, begging for his brother's life, that Hiruzen had let his tears fall for the fate of the child in front of him, and for the eternal pain of the boy the so-called 'Perfect Shinobi' had lost his composure for.

But the seven year old Uchiha was finally starting to smile again, if only slightly at least. It was only months since the massacre, and already Naruto had worked his magic on the boy. Shaking his head in bemusement, Hiruzen recalled taking Sasuke to the bank just a few days ago. He hoped the boy enjoyed himself a little with the money, but grimaced at the thought of him supplying Naruto with pranking supplies. Kami help the village then.

The glazed over eyes of the Sandaime came back to reality, and he returned to his paperwork.

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Meanwhile, the ANBU patrolling the village gates twisted sharply towards the cracking of a branch, hands already on Kunai, if needed. But they relaxed after seeing Tora jump out of the scrub, hissing wildly and causing Sparrow to flinch, although he never showed it. That damn cat was feared by all.

Boar snorted quietly at his partner's unseen distress, rolling his eyes behind the ANBU mask. Typically, a young brown haired boy stumbled out of the bushes, covered in scratches and looking exhausted. The ANBU, of course, did not allow themselves to be seen, but watched in amusement as the boy desperately leaped at the volatile feline. Oh, man, they had been there. Poor Genin-Gaki, being separated from his Sensei and team, the kid had no chance.

Tora leaped and climbed hurriedly up a large tree and over Konoha's wall, only to have the frantic Genin follow, after eventually getting up the tree himself.

The ANBU sighed, it wasn't unusual for Tora to try and escape over the walls, though it was a generally village-bound mission, it was quite common for Genins to have to chase the demonic cat back inside. Silently wishing the Gaki luck, Sparrow and Boar continued on their patrol.

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The Sandaime Hokage strolled home that night, the time being around 9:30. He had miraculously finished enough paperwork for his assistant to allow him to leave at a reasonable time, so he decided to check on Naruto. He hadn't seen the boy in a week or so, and he had missed the orange bundle of cheer.

He reached the blonde's near-abandoned apartment building, and went up to Naruto's apartment, though it would be more realistic to call it a room, with a toilet. A dingy room at that. Hearing no reply to his knocks, Hiruzen pulled out his key and opened the door quietly, in case the boy was asleep. The room was quite barren really, but Naruto had never seemed one to care for the materialistic things. But one thing stood out in this dark, but surprisingly well kept room. The stark white paper sitting on an empty bed.

Hiruzen promptly turned the same shade as the paper, and flung open the broken wood drawers next to the bed, revealing a startling lack of clothes. At least half was gone, if not more. Hands shaking, the Sandaime picked up the paper, and it rustled at the contact. He began to read the letter.

Dear Hokage-jiji,

I know it's you who will read this, you're the only person who knows where I live after all, except some ANBU. Yeah, I know about that, they usually came once they thought I was unconscious and took the people hurting me away…anyway, I'm not really sure how to say this Jiji, so I guess I'll just spit it out. By the time you have read this, I have left Konoha. Sasuke too. This place is killing us Jiji, we need to be free. But don't worry! We'll most definitely be back someday, so you can see how awesome we are! Please don't send people after us, we will only run away again. And please don't worry about me Jiji, we have been training to defend ourselves and we have money in Sasuke's bank scroll-thingy. You might not hear from me in a while, but I promise I'll be alright. And I won't go back on my word!

See you around Hokage-jiji,

Uzumaki Naruto (and Uchiha Sasuke)

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"How come I had to be the cat Teme!" Exclaimed the disgruntled blonde, as he pulled on a hood to hide his distinctive hair.

"You're the one with whiskers Dobe." Sasuke calmly replied, although on the inside he was cackling like a maniac.

"Hmph." Said whiskered boy pouted, as his smug friend dispelled the **Henge**, revealing his natural features. "You try acting as a damn pissy cat Uchiha, it's not easy!"

"Maybe not for a dobe." Sasuke agreed mildly, nodding along.

"Animal **Henges** are harder too! Don't act so cool!" Naruto yelled as they began to run, in which direction, they didn't know.

"But it's so easy." The Uchiha smirked, glancing sideways at his rowdy friend.

"Oh Kami _Uchiha_ _Sasuke _just told a joke! Is the world truly upside down?" The former-Tora wailed to the sky as they raced through the forests.

"No Dobe, it's finally turned the right way up is all." Sasuke said, his mouth expressionless but his eyes smiling genuinely.

_They were free._

**I hope the escape didn't disappoint people. I wanted it to be original but believable. I considered them killing someone, but they're only seven, and using a prank as a distraction, but that would quickly alert people, and being seven, they would never be fast enough to escape without a head start if followed. Next chapter won't take anywhere near as long, I promise!**

**-TITM**


	6. Chapter Five

**Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, I would change his English dub voice. It sounds like nails in a blender to be honest…**

**Ok I've been reading this short 'Classic' book called 'Animal Farm'. Some of you may have heard of it, or read it yourselves. (Spoilers) Well basically it's based on a real war but has animals representing the people etc. And there is this boar called Napoleon. Seriously, all I can think of him is ****HE'S DANZO****! He really is. He wants control of the farm; he takes away puppies and trains them to be his own personal army, only responding to him. Sound like 'Root' to anyone? Seriously. OK this was relatively pointless, sorry…on with the story.**

A cold wind swept through to Naruto's bones, which nearly shook in the chilly night air. The dried sweat had long gone chilled and stiff under his clothes, and even his notoriously spikey hair was gross under the hood. He and Sasuke had been running almost non-stop for a week now, only briefly resting when necessary. The Uchiha himself was also a sweaty - but slightly more presentable – mess. Black really does hide most things. But even Sasuke's usually perfectly duck-like hair was limp and had lost its shine.

The boys were just outside of a small town, approaching the Fire/Wind country border. They would need a fully alert mind and their bodies in the best condition if they were to avoid being caught in this area. So far there had been no Konoha Shinobi on their trail, so the Sandaime must have decided not to pursue them after all…of course, Naruto had always believed that would be the case.

"_Jiji won't sell us out!" Naruto had yelled cheerfully to the sceptical brunette, "I told him we'd be back! He knows I don't lie!"_

"_You lie every day you act like a brainless dobe Naruto." Sasuke had blandly stated, causing a raised eyebrow from the blonde._

"_Nuh uh, Sasuke-teme it's not lying! It's just not telling people stuff they don't need to know. Besides, Hokage-jiji knows I'm not stupid. He trusts me." Earnest blue eyes stared into the Uchiha's soul, drawing out a sigh of defeat._

Crossing silently into the quaint little town, Sasuke handed Naruto his bag, containing most of their scrolls – storage, jutsu, bank and clan scrolls - and maps, and signalled in their invented hand sign code that he was going to search for an Inn to stay at for the night.

Now, while the boys were most definitely talented for their age, they still would be vulnerable to even a well-trained Genin, let alone border patrol. Sure, unruly bandits or the odd civilian would be no problem to defeat with nothing more than a well-placed and timed jutsu, but patrols? No way. At least, not yet. So, disguises were in order once again.

Naruto was staring up at the stars, now in a slightly different position than he had grown up seeing, when a sudden sound startled him out of his daze. Hand automatically on a Kunai – people really waste a lot of weapons by leaving them in the forest - but he relaxed to see that Sasuke had returned.

They walked to the Inn the slightly older boy had found, waving off the receptionist's concerns over two children alone at night. They're parents were at an important meeting, they lied flawlessly, they would meet up with them early tomorrow. Seeing the aging woman's relief, Naruto couldn't help but smile softly at the kindness he was experiencing. He was beginning to wonder why he hadn't left Konoha earlier, if this was what the world beyond its walls were like. They thanked the greying woman once again, and went to their room for a regenerating night's sleep.

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BACK IN KONOHA

The Civilian side of the Council was in a nervous flurry, jittering about and talking loudly amongst themselves. The Shinobi side of the Council, however more composed, were also developing noticeable twitches and tick mark above their eyes. The Hokage himself just sat at the head of the table, waiting for order. Finally, he could take it no longer.

"SILENCE!" the Sandaime yelled, as he subtly leaked killing intent directed at the noisier of the self-righteous civilians.

The effect was immediate. The civilians paled and shakily sat down in their designated seats, while the Shinobi smoothed their faces and looked towards their Hokage.

"Now, this meeting is being held to discuss the whereabouts of one Uchiha Sasuke, and one Uzu-"

"THE DEMON KIDNAPPED UCHIHA-SAMA! WE MUST SEND THE ANBU!" A brave – but stupid – Councilman screamed, his face red with rage.

The Sandaime was coldly furious, how dare they accuse Naruto of such things with no reasons at all?

"And what is your evidence of this Councilman?" Hiruzen asked icily.

"IT'S THE KYUUBI SIR! IT MUST BE HUNTED AND PUT TO DEATH IMMEDIATELY, AS SHOULD HAVE BEEN DONE YEARS AG-" The man demanded, before being cut off due to a Kunai in his throat. The ANBU responsible stepped back into the shadows by the Sandaime's side, as if he had never moved at all. The man fell over dead, to the horror of the civilians and the silent relief of the Shinobi, Inuzuka Tsume especially. Her hearing was very sensitive after all. The Hokage's Advisors, Homura and Koharu, were uncharacteristically silent, as they had already been briefed by the Sandaime the previous day, and severely admonished by the man for their disrespectful behaviour. Danzou sat glowering at his old rival, making no move to enter the conversation. It would be to no effect, that he knew.

An overweight man sputtered indignantly, "Hokage-sama, what is the meaning of this! Councilman Tochigi-"

"Councilman Tochigi broke a law. One punishable with death, as all of you knows. Speaking of an S-class secret in such an open manor is strictly prohibited. Now, back to the meeting. There will be no one sent after the Uchiha and Uzumaki Naruto, as I granted them permission to leave." The Sandaime didn't really lie…he approved of it…after they had already left. But the Council didn't need to know that.

"H-Hokage-sama! W-Why would you allow such a thing? Its madness!" Cries arose from the table. Dammit, wouldn't these civilians ever shut up?

"The Civilian Council is a sub-section of Konoha's Council, and as such are given choices and sway over _Civilian_ affairs. The Shinobi section is much the same. Now, since both young boys happen to be civilians and not yet Ninjas, the Shinobi Council has no say. But as they have left to train in the Shinobi ways, the Civilian side also is unable to have jurisdiction. As such, as the Hokage, I made the decision alone and without the influences of a debating Council."

Hiruzen stood and began walking to the door, his ANBU trailing close behind. "Dismissed." He said firmly, daring the shocked Council to argue. He slammed the heavy wooden door behind him.

_Naruto…Sasuke…I hope you know what you're doing._

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A small boy with bright blue eyes and brown hair skipped happily alongside a smiling woman in a sandy-brown dress. She was carrying a little bundle of baby in her arms that was only just starting to grow a fuzz of hair atop of its head.

Behind them, a beaming dark haired boy in a green shirt and pants was holding hands with an equally dark haired, laughing father. The boy had a backpack swung over his shoulders and as they reached the Suna border, he ran up to his lighter-haired brother.

The Suna Shinobi, after scanning for **Henge** or any other use of chakra, let the family through without a second glance. Never noticing that neither of the 'parents' had blue eyes.

It had been ridiculously simple really. Cover the whisker marks with make-up they had bought – while in a female **Henge** of course, they still had manly pride to protect – and dye Naruto's sign-post blonde hair to a more generic brown. Sasuke had worn actual _colour_, and acted _cheerful_. No way would he even be considered as himself if recognised.

Then, all they needed to do was find some kind civilians heading in the same direction, and have Naruto tell them a sob story. Damn, those blue eyes could puppy-look the way the Daimyo's office dressed as an assassin, Sasuke swore.

"_Oh sweetie, what's wrong?" the kind young woman asked in a motherly tone, crouching down by the tearing child._

"_O-our Kaa-chan a-and Otou-san w-went across the b-border but Nii-san stopped to t-tie his shoe a-and I waited for him but after we c-caught up, the Suna Ninjas said we d-didn't have parents with us s-so we couldn't cross! Kaa-chan said w-we were theirs b-but they said no we didn't come with them so i-it was re-regulation!" The blue eyes now had streams of tears pouring down the child's face, and his brother stood next to him looking at his feet in shame. It was his fault._

"_Aw, It's ok honey. Hey! How about this? You can cross with us and meet up with them ok? I know that when Akito-chan grows up I would want someone to help her."_

"_R-really?" Asked the crying boy hopefully, with the other boy also looking up, wide eyed._

"_Of course! Right, Haru–kun?"_

"_No problem. You're safe with us kids." The proud father smiled kindly, and the 'brothers' grinned internally._

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"Hey kids, you sure you'll be ok?" Asked the concerned woman, holding the baby Akito-chan close.

"Yeah! We know where Kaa-chan and Otou-san will be staying! Thank you again, so so much." Naruto bowed low to the couple, tugging Sasuke down with him.

"Well ok then…good luck boys, glad we could help. Make sure not to get separated from your parents again ok!" She smiled happily. "Well then Haru-kun, we should get moving if we are to reach my mother's today. You know how she gets when we are late, and she is so excited to meet Akito-chan." Haru chuckled and laced his arms around her as they started to turn in the other direction.

"Hai Koi, we will make it, don't worry. Bye boys!"

"Bye!" Yelled Naruto, waving madly, at the same time that Sasuke called out "Cya!"

Once out of hearing range, it was safe to speak again.

"So Uchiha, where to now? I can't wait to get this dye out of my hair…"

"Quit complaining Dobe, we-"

"Teme!"

"Shut up." A small smirk on his face, Sasuke continued. "We should go to Sunagakure. Because of the extreme weather, their weapons are more reliable in changing conditions. Won't be affected by rust in the rain or weakening from heat…just what we need if we're travelling."

Naruto looked on blankly for a moment. "Do you read encyclopaedias for fun, or do you just have no life?"

Sasuke snorted, but didn't reply. He knew because Itachi had told him, after a mission in Suna.

"Anyway, how're we gonna get into Suna in the first place? They don't just let random people in you know." The blonde questioned, causing Sasuke to pause.

"…Ok. New plan. Search around the outskirts of Suna for any weapons left during training or battles."

The younger boy nodded in agreement. "Yeah, that'll work."

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"Whoa Sasuke check this out!" A certain blonde screamed excitedly from a sand dune.

Sasuke soon appeared at the top of the hill, looking down at Naruto's discovery. "What is it?"

"It's a broken up puppet thing! Look its bigger then both of us together! How awesome! I wish I could use puppets…"

"…Since when?"

"Since I saw this thing!" the hyperactive boy jumped around, gesturing wildly. Seeing that his friend was ignoring him, Naruto sighed. "SO, found anything Sasuke-Teme?"

Said teme nodded and jumped down into the dune, "I've got eleven Shuriken, sixteen Kunai, half a roll of Ninja Wire and a couple Senbon shooters, but most are empty. You?"

"…I, ugh…kinda got distracted with the puppet…but it had some weapons in it we can get out!"

Sasuke sweatdropped. "Ok."

After ten minutes of ravaging the puppet's wooden corpse, Naruto exclaimed in awe. "OH MY KAMI THIS THING SHOOTS FIRE!"

Sasuke's head whipped up. "What?"

"Look look! It's a wristband thing and you channel chakra and WHOOSH fire!" Naruto demonstrated, putting in a small amount of chakra, to produce a smaller flame.

"MINE!" screamed an uncharacteristically excited Sasuke, who leaped at the weapon and clutched it protectively.

"…_OK_…well I guess that can be the birthday present I never gave you. But you might want to stop crushing it."

Sasuke nodded in the utmost seriousness.

Suddenly, sand began whirling around in the beginnings of a sandstorm, getting a fearful look out of both boys before they ran out of the dune to look for cover.

And instead, found the source of the storm.

A young red-head in Suna robes sat in the middle of the desert, crying as the sand whipped around him viciously, but never touching him. And he wasn't alone. Warily, Naruto and Sasuke crept closer.

"Y-Yashamaru…I don't understand…why-" The crying child looked up, tears spilling over this deadening green eyes, rimmed in darkness.

"Why? Because you are a Demon Gaara! You love only yourself, mercilessly killing others with your evil! Your father was a fool to let you continue to exist this long, but finally, he has granted me permission to avenge my sister! NOW DIE!" The man now identified as Yashamaru flung multiple Kunai at the shocked boy, who just sat there as the sand flawlessly came to his defence. The Kunai exploded, as they had Paper Bombs twisted around the handle.

The sand rushed at the panting Yashamaru, knocking him backwards and rendering him unconscious. The sand encircled him, and was about to squeeze, when Naruto could take it no longer and jumped forward, hugging the shaking boy and trying to calm him back into his right mind.

Gaara was in shock. Yashamaru tried to kill him. He hated him, just like everybody else. Demon? He knew about Shukaku but…was he really a demon? He must be. He loved only himself. But why? Why had the sand begun to recede, and HOW was this strange boy _touching_ him? Was he not afraid? Did he not despise his existence? His head was forced up and pale green met startling blue and he was suddenly aware that the boy was talking.

"Hey. What's your name? Why did he do that to you? It's ok now, me and Sasuke won't let him wake up and hurt you ok?"

"Why aren't you scared? You would run if you were smart. I am a Demon." Gaara whispered, slowly rocking himself backwards and forwards.

"No you're not! They called me a Demon too, but I'm not! You-"

"Naruto!" Sasuke called out, "Are you sure?" Naruto nodded.

"Why? Why did they call you a Demon?" Gaara stared up at the mysterious blonde, confused.

"Because I have the Kyuubi sealed inside me. I have since I was born. Everybody hated me, and tried to hurt me. So I left the village with my friend Uchiha Sasuke and we're travelling and will become strong! Name's Uzumaki Naruto by the way!" A huge grin stretched across his face, almost blinding Gaara, who had never had such emotions directed at him before.

"…Gaara." He whispered. "My name is Gaara. I have the Ichibi, Shukaku sealed into me. My Tou-sama is the Kazekage, but I have to call him Kazekage-sama. He hates me. They all do. But I thought Yashamaru didn't…why! Why did he betray me?" Gaara cried, burying his head into his arms, his small frame shaking.

Naruto looked up at Sasuke questionably, who simply nodded. Naruto turned back to the red haired boy. "Hey Gaara…would you like to come with us? Leave Suna, I mean. Leave all those people behind. We'll be your friends, maybe even like brothers!"

Gaara looked up with wide eyes.

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Yashamaru woke up alone in the sand, his front severely burned by the desert sun._ …Wha?_

"What happened?" he spoke out loud, checking his surroundings. And it came back to him. Fighting, with Gaara…_GAARA!_ He jumped up in alarm, and looked around furiously for any sign of the boy. Nothing.

An evil, satisfied smirk took up residence on Yashamaru's face, not only had his explosion killed the Demon, he had survived what was practically a suicide mission with nothing more than a headache! Kazekage-sama would be pleased. He may just get promoted for this.

Turning his back on the hardly disturbed desert scene, Yashamaru began the long walk back to Suna, practically purring in his contentment._ Sister…finally, you have been avenged._

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Gaara was wide eyed as he ran behind his new companions, still in shock over the day's events. Yashamaru had told him that he was getting a special treat, a trip out of Suna, just the two of them. Only to betray him. But now, here he was, leaving Suna forever with the only people who had truly never feared him. Gaara stopped suddenly, causing Naruto and Sasuke to halt as well, looking and the other boy in confusion at the slight crease on his eyebrow-less face.

"Gaara?" Naruto asked, curious as usual. Sasuke just silently observed. Gaara looked a little nervous, but spoke up anyway. "Where are we going Naruto-san and Sasuke-san?"

"Eh, who knows? And just our names are fine, no suffix, unless you're adding –Teme to Sasuke."

Sasuke glared. Gaara stifled a giggle.

"So how old are you anyway Gaara?" Sasuke asked, deftly changing the subject.

"I'm six."

"Aww we're seven! You can be our baby brother Gaa-chan!" The enthusiastic blonde informed the blinking Gaara. Who then scrunched up his nose in thinly veiled confusion.

"But I thought six is more than seven…" Gaara intoned, causing Naruto to burst out laughing and draw an extended chuckle from Sasuke, who just couldn't hold it in.

"Ha ha ha, oh Gaara, oh Kami that's so funny…or maybe we're just sleep deprived…but anyway, you're a baka."

Gaara looked down in shame. Sasuke snorted. "Gaara, he doesn't mean that. It's like me calling him Dobe, or me, the ever-inappropriate, Teme. Don't get offended by it ok?"

Gaara nodded in understanding, as Naruto's eyes – impossibly – got wider.

"I HEREBY DUB YOU, GAARA-BAKA!" He gestured grandly to the skies, which typically showed no reaction. Damn.

After a rather awkward silence, the three boys once again began walking as far away from Suna as they could, the Teme, the Dobe and the Baka. It was nice to be included.

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TWO MONTHS LATER

AMEGAKURE

Gaara panted heavily as he blocked yet another chakra enhanced punch from Naruto, and was forced to dodge Sasuke's low kick. Ame was living up to its name, the non-stop downpour of rain severely decreasing the speed of his sand, all but the 'Ultimate Defence' were close to useless. Which is why they had come in the first place.

Despite the former Suna boy's protests, his determined friends had insisted that he learn how to protect himself, if his sand should ever fail. Along with increasing his non-existent Taijutsu, simple chakra control exercises allowed him better control over his sand, to the point where he could easily create things down to the smallest detail. It was this that sparked their small, travelling business, so to speak. Gaara would create figures of sand and Sasuke would then adjust his wristband's intensity to maximum, by turning the end like a nozzle, and the flames would turn the sand into glass. Naruto, with his naturally bright attitude, would cheerfully draw in the potential customers that may have otherwise not noticed the two other, significantly quieter boys. It was an effective, and relatively effortless practice, but raked in the money as souvenirs and ornaments, especially the ones that were requested. Everything from figurines and crowns, to life-size statues and wedding decorations. But the weirdest that had ever been asked of them was a large dog-creature, about the size of a horse, with three heads and eight eyes, a lion's mane and the tail of an eagle. People were really strange sometimes.

Gaara puffed and leant forward on his knees in exhaustion, lifting up an arm and giving the sign for surrender. Sasuke stopped mid-hand seal and Naruto jumped back with a proud smile.

"Alright Gaara! That was nearly two hours without your sand working fully, you've improved heaps!"

Gaara sent him a withering glare, although they all knew that he didn't mean it in the slightest, if the concealed humour and pride in his eyes was anything to go by.

Sasuke leant against a rain-slicked building, fingering his necklace absentmindedly as he watched his two sort-of adopted-brothers together. Naruto, his first best friend, was explaining to Gaara, his second, younger best friend what pain was. Gaara had never before felt pain, and so had no idea of the sensation.

"Dobe. You're being too confusing. Look Gaara, in my experience, pain had three main forms. Physical, this can be a sharp, stabbing feeling, or a slow and lasting ache. It can be healed. Emotional pain, like being betrayed or otherwise hurt by the words or actions of someone. It will stay forever if you let it, but can heal eventually with time. Mental pain, well that is a bit of a foggier concept. It stems to Emotional pain usually, and it is when madness and torture descend on the mind, until even though the pain cannot be felt, the damage is still there. It is the hardest to heal, because once it had taken hold of you, you will never even will it to leave. And that is the most dangerous kind." Sasuke finished his speech, and Naruto couldn't take it any longer.

"Whoa! Sasuke spoke! Sasuke was talking! He was lecturing! I thought you had some condition that weakened your voice box, but it turns out you're just a quiet teme…You Teme."

"Isn't that redundant?" Gaara joined the conversation in monotone.

"Shut up Baka! You and Teme are just jealous of my amazing charisma and charms! And epic skills!"

"Naruto." Gaara said, turning his blonde 'brother'.

"Yeah?"

"You are a Dobe." Gaara turned back away, smirking.

Sasuke grinned evilly at Naruto's spluttering face._ I'm so proud…_

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The Uchiha lounged back against a tree trunk, thoughtfully stroking his necklace. His dark hair was flung about haphazardly in the wind and rain, and his red eyes gleamed in the darkness of the tree's shadow.

Red eyes? Yes, it was not Uchiha _Sasuke_ who was alone in Ame that night, but Uchiha Itachi himself. He was dressed in non-descript black clothes, nothing flashy, but it would not hinder him in a battle either. Ever since leaving Konoha less than half a year ago, he had had his Sharingan constantly active. Life as a Missing-nin was hard for the thirteen year old, who, contrary to popular belief, was someone who although rarely joined in conversation, felt unsettled by extended silence. And life as a criminal was silent. No companions of course, he would be a fool to trust people in his current situation, let alone other Missing-nin.

But here he was, in Ame, for a meeting with an unnamed man who wished for him to join his organization of Missing-nin. Akatsuki, it was called. A large shark-like man had come before him roughly a month ago, extending the invitation. He knew now that he had met Kisame Hoshigaki, an S-class Missing-nin like himself, who hailed from Kiri, courtesy of the Bingo Book.

He had turned him down, but the offer had remained, if he should choose otherwise. Perhaps it was the only way for him. After all, what did he have to live for otherwise? Until Sasuke was old enough to kill him, he had nothing to do with his miserable existence. Why not join them? It was certainly better than wandering the countries with Hunter-nins on his trail for the rest of his life.

Before he had even made a conscious decision, here he was, the place where he was informed the leader resided, had planned to soon take over from the legendary Hanzou. Whether he had the capabilities to truly do this, had yet to be seen.

Sighing out loud, since nobody was around to see, Itachi stepped back out into the downpour, and began to walk towards the village, to meet with the leader of this 'Akatsuki'. Until a few minutes later, he paused, and leapt into the treetops.

He had felt an amazing amount of chakra coming from an area off to his right as he neared the village, and took a detour to investigate the source. Anybody strong enough to hold this chakra would almost definitely cover it to avoid detection. Closing in, he discovered that it was actually two separate chakra signatures, both powerful, unrefined but with some similar trait he could not place. There was also another, third chakra, powerful but still significantly smaller than the other two. And all too familiar._ It can't be…impossible, Sasuke is in Konoha!_

And then, Itachi was there. He jumped down gracefully from the treetops without a sound, but was shocked to find himself suddenly engulfed from the head down in sand, which squeezed him threateningly. He stiffened as much as he had the ability to, unable to perform hand seals to aid in escape.

He turned to face his attacker…a small red headed boy, no older than Sasuke. The boy was holding his hand up and staring at him unflinchingly with eyes typical of an insomniac, answering the question as to why the boy was awake at this time of night…or morning, as it was. Itachi activated **Tsukuyomi**, but was abruptly thrust out of the boy's mind, leaving Itachi with a headache from the violent dispel of his technique. _How could he have been_…and then it dawned on him. _A Jinchuriki…_

"Why are you here?" The red-head intoned, his inflectionless voice slightly impressing the Uchiha. But now was not the time for such things.

"I felt several unmasked but strong chakra signatures in the area. I came to see who they belonged to. I see that one of them is yourself."

"Who are you? And what do you intend to do?" Gaara demanded, eyes narrowing and sand tightening around Itachi's body.

"I intend to do nothing. You are not my concern, as my name is not yours. Now, if you would kindly release me from your sand so I can leave?" Itachi asked politely and yet still let a hint of warning into his tone, defenceless or not.

Gaara nodded warily, and his sand began to recede. A sudden rustling came from the nearby tent, and a blonde head popped out into the moonlight.

"Hey Gaara, what's going on? Who are you talking to?" Naruto asked quietly.

Itachi stiffened. Naruto…here? Why on earth would the boy be so far from Konoha, what had he missed in those few short and yet agonizingly long months?

Naruto climbed out of the tent, and froze when he saw Itachi. Another, much darker haired boy soon followed.

"Gaara? Naruto? What-" he froze. Eyes wide, shaking and blood running cold. "I-Itachi?"

**Well well well, the plot thickens. Sorry if it seems rushed, but I wanted them in my story ASAP!**

**I learnt something today. You know you are ****way**** too obsessed with Naruto when you cry anime tears over 'Sharing a coke with "Gemma"' instead of Genma. Wow.**

**-TITM**


	7. Chapter Six

**Disclaimer: ….Do I really have to? *sigh* fine. I do not own Naruto, only this plot and the OCs.**

**Hey, ok Itachi will be a little - or maybe a lot - OOC, but we must remember that ****he is only thirteen****. Skills aside, he's a kid and makes mistakes, however rare they may be. His emotions are still locked away, but behind a lock and key rather than a bank vault as it is when he is older, in Canon. Just clarifying, sorry. On with the fic!**

The students filed in one by one, taking their seats in a slightly less rowdy manor than before. The disappearances of Sasuke and Naruto had shaken the foundation of the childrens' daily lives, resulting in all but three of the female students quitting within the first month. Only Hyuuga Hinata, Yamanaka Ino and Sakura Haruno remained. Hinata, because although she grieved losing Naruto, was a clan heir and had to behave as such, not a desperate, heartbroken Fangirl. Ino had missed two weeks of school when she had locked herself in her room, refusing to come out. But eventually, she returned, tear-streaked and depressed, but she did return. She threw herself into the Academy work, trying to take her mind off the missing Uchiha. Sakura had stayed, simply because she had nowhere else to go. Sasuke was her everything, she literally had no life outside of him. Who would she think about, talk about now? Where would she go after school, if not following him? She stayed, because it was in this place, that she could imagine Sasuke was still there, just being as silent as always.

But it was the stifling silence in the room that really got to everyone. Moments passed when they fully anticipated an outcry from their blonde former-classmate, only to hear nothing. Days were dull without his pranks cheering them up and giving them something to laugh about. Even Kiba had become quieter, as if his usual loudness would echo in the deathly room. Only the sounds of turning pages and scratching pencils reached his sensitive ears, even the sound of Shino's bugs was abnormally soft, as if they too could sense the change in atmosphere. The occasional crunch of chips from Chouji's direction seemed to make half the room jump, and even Shikamaru hadn't had a good mid-class sleep in weeks.

Shin-sensei had quit a little over three weeks ago, seeing no reason to continue teaching without his prized Uchiha. He had felt he was being looked down upon for letting the Demon brainwash the boy right under of his nose. Unable to take the scrutiny, Shin resigned, and now is just a simple everyday chunin filled with bitterness of the past.

The newest substitute Sensei sat in a corner of the room, leaning back on his chair in boredom. The man had the look of an Inuzuka, but seemed too quiet, and lacked a canine companion. Perhaps one of his parents was an Inuzuka? In any case, this guy whose name they didn't bother to learn, ran a hand through his brown mane of hair and pulled out an orange book and began to read. The book was called 'Icha Icha, Volume One, Of Shuriken and Kunai'. _Ah, so it was an instruction Manual for Ninjas…but why would a Chunin need to learn about something as simple as the basic weapons?_ Shrugging it off, Shikamaru closed his eyes once again.

Halfway through the lesson, the Sub-sensei closed his book and hurriedly walked in the direction of the Senseis' Bathroom, without a word said to the curious kids. _Troublesome…_

Kiba laughed loudly, drawing the attention of the class.

"Akamaru said he smells like the dogs when the bitches go on heat!" Kiba howled, throwing back his head in mirth. Soon enough the whole class was laughing hysterically, and even Shino smirked under his coat. Like a dam that had been building up all this time, noise began to flood the classroom.

And so it seems, life will move on.

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_Naruto climbed out of the tent, and froze when he saw Itachi. Another, much darker haired boy soon followed._

"_Gaara? Naruto? What-" he froze. Eyes wide, shaking and blood running cold. "I-Itachi?"_

"Itachi? Answer me dammit!" Sasuke cried, annoyance breaking through the shock.

Itachi was frozen. He had no idea what to do. What the HELL was his Otouto doing here! _Oh shit oh shit oh shit…_

"ITACHI!"

Naruto and Gaara just watched solemnly and Gaara ensured Itachi couldn't run away with his sand. Itachi knew he could not even try to use his Sharingan again; it was strained from the last time, although it had failed, and knew that 'Gaara' would not hesitate to crush him if he tried. Sasuke was still demanding a response. Eventually, Itachi's brain kicked started again.

"What are you doing here Uchiha Itachi! Talk!" Sasuke was so very frustrated right now.

"Me? I think the correct question would be what are _you_ doing here Otouto? Should you not be in Konoha, becoming stronger? Not on some…child's camping trip." Itachi coldly questioned, trying to fall back into his 'evil older brother' character.

Sasuke growled. "We are not camping Ani-ITACHI! I left Konoha. We are travelling and becoming stronger, that damn village had nothing holding us there. Now I ask again, WHY are YOU here!"

Itachi's eyes had widened against his will. _Ani? Aniki? It has been so long since I have been called that…_Wait, Sasuke left Konoha? SASUKE LEFT?_ Damn foolish Otouto, you complicate my plans._

Fully preparing to give his brother all the more reason to hate him, Itachi's eye was caught by a shine on Sasuke's chest from the moonlight. It was a necklace…a very familiar one at that._ How?...even if he found it, why would he be wearing it? Kami, I knew I should have cleared out my room. Hey…_

Itachi glared. "You went in my room."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "Yeah…"

"…You're not supposed to go in my room."

Now the second eyebrow shot up. "I think that rule became somewhat void after you killed everyone and left, never to return."

The Sharingan enhanced glare heightened. "It's still my room."

Sasuke glared back. Naruto and Gaara sweatdropped, although Gaara's significantly was smaller. _So this is how real Siblings act? After everything, this pettiness remains?_ Naruto thought, glancing back and forth between the two Uchihas. Gaara was still trying to wrap his head around the concept of family._ Was this what it could have been like with those guys…Temari and Kankuro?_ Gaara had rarely seen his blood siblings, and when he did, they were quite afraid of him, keeping their distance. The Uchiha brothers were still staring each other down.

"What did you do in my room? You touched things didn't you!"

"Is it really that important?"

"Hai!" Where had the stoic Uchiha Itachi gone? He had disappeared into the pissed off older brother, whose little brother had _touched his stuff!_

Sasuke smirked evilly. "In that case, I saw, touched, moved and rearranged everything."

The forest froze. Itachi twitched.

"SASUKE!"

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Itachi sat in front of the blazing campfire. Sasuke and Naruto had gone back to the tent for a few more hours sleep. The one called Gaara had promised not to let him leave, no matter what. And so Itachi waited for the sun to rise, reflecting on the night's events.

Sasuke. His Otouto really just lived to change his carefully laid plans, didn't he? The boy had demanded Itachi to answer his questions in the morning, an action in of itself that confused the older boy. Sasuke was supposed to hate him beyond all rational thought, how else was he going to grow strong enough to kill him? He refused, _refused_, to admit his relief that the boy didn't seem to loath him. Hate, sure. But not loath. He didn't have enough hate. And what the hell had happened back there! Arguing over a _room_ for Kami's sake, as if nothing had ever happened to pull them apart.

Itachi leaned forward, his hands automatically in the 'Uchiha Brooding Pose', with his hands covering the lower part of his face as he contemplated what to tell his Otouto the next day. Another horrible lie? Or the even more horrible truth? Could Sasuke even handle it?_ But…_Itachi thought with the slightest of smiles_…he is wearing my gift. What does all of this mean? Kami, now I have a headache…again._

Itachi would have sighed, but withheld from allowing it to pass. He closed his eyes in a rare moment of relaxation. If he was going to die, then being on edge wouldn't change that. He snorted_. Helpless and at the mercy of not even Genin…it is true that the mighty do fall. But at least two are Jinchuriki, I can save at least some of my dignity._

He drifted off to sleep, wondering what to tell Sasuke tomorrow.

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"-And then I found your campsite. You know the story from there surely, foolish Otouto?" Itachi scoffed, He was sitting on a log, still restrained with Gaara's sand. Damn that stuff was annoying. In the end, he had opted to tell the truth. Either Sasuke would believe him, or think him a liar and hate him even more for trying to dirty the Uchiha clan's memory. But he never actually expected Sasuke to believe him.

"OK, let me get this straight," Naruto said suddenly, from his place sitting to the right of Sasuke. Gaara was on Sasuke's left, and Itachi was sitting across from him. The embers of the fire were glowing between them. "Your clan was all power-crazy, especially your father, and they planned a coup d'état to kill Hokage-jiji. You were a spy for both but chose Jiji over the clan and some old dude name Danzou made the Council order you to kill them. Damn, being ANBU sounds horrible…"

Sasuke remained silent. That is, until he leaped across the dying fire to punch Itachi in the face. And, being held by sand, Itachi took it, snapping his head back with the force of the angry boy's fist.

"ITACHI! WHY WOULD YOU LIE TO ME! YOU BASTARD, DID YOU _REALLY_ THINK THAT IT WOULD HELP ME? I THOUGHT YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO BE SMART! DAMN IT, DAMN YOU, DAMN _EVERYTHING_!"

Itachi opened his mouth to reply, but Sasuke wasn't done yet. Oh, no. He started to shake his brother viciously, and poor Itachi, still couldn't move to stop him.

"Did you really think so little of me Aniki? Did you think I was too immature to deal with the truth, and had to be fed lies like a baby? How could you! I looked up to you, above everybody else! And you insult me like that! I hate you! And I love you! Which just makes me hate you even more!" Sasuke was panting by now, finally letting go of the shocked Itachi.

_He…actually called me Aniki? He…loves…me?_ "But I killed everyone you loved Sasuke! Would excuses like 'I was told to' _really_ be any consolation?"

"But you DIDN'T kill everyone I loved. I loved you the most! And you _destroyed_ that, and that was what was hurting the most! You had betrayed me, and said you never cared in the first place, that it was all an act! Do you know how hard it was just to _try_ and trust again? If it wasn't for meeting Naruto, I WOULD STILL BE ALONE!"

"Sasuke…" Itachi was shocked, as was becoming increasingly more common. Was his life after Itachi left really that bad? The guilt began weighing even more heavily than before.

"I loved Kaa-san, and Tou-san, even if he was disappointed in me! I loved Oji-san and Oba-san and even Shisui! But if they really were part of that then I don't know what to think! I wish you had at least let me know that you didn't want to do it…it would have made the nights easier…" Tears were gathering in the obviously emotional Sasuke's eyes, causing Itachi himself to force his own back. Had he really messed up so badly? He was sure he was doing the right thing at the time…

"…I'm sorry…Otouto…I messed up." The elder whispered, as Sasuke finally couldn't hold his tears at bay any longer and wrapped his arms around Itachi, starting to sob. The sand retreat back into Gaara's gourd, but he was ready to attack instantly if necessary. He had become quite protective of his adoptive brothers.

An hour or so passed, and finally Sasuke had stopped crying. He glanced up at Itachi, glaring slightly.

"You know, I still don't forgive you for using **Tsukuyomi** on me Aniki. And the clan…it will take a while to fully forgive you. But I won't let you leave me again." The youngest Uchiha stared, unafraid, into Itachi's eyes. The younger boy's eyes were still shiny and reddened from tears. And Itachi's conviction crumpled._ Damn those eyes…_

"Ok Otouto…I won't leave…"

"Promise?" The younger boy whispered tentatively.

"Promise."

"Good, 'cause you owe me A LOT of training and now you don't have any excuses!" Sasuke grinned, and Itachi supressed a groan. _That manipulative little…_

Naruto blinked. "So…are you coming with us then?"

Gaara also turned his eyes to the long haired Uchiha, his gaze piercing, but contemplative.

"…Hai." Itachi said with the smallest of smiles. Sasuke outright grinned.

…_Looks like I won't be joining Akatsuki then I guess…but this is more than I had hoped for. I would rather not use my abilities for such evil. Otouto…Naruto…Gaara…I swear I will protect you all now…_

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"NARUTO! GET BACK HERE!" Itachi yelled, yes, _yelled_. But then again who could stay stoic after having_ their hair dyed orange!_ How the hell had the brat done this you ask? Well, Itachi had no idea._ I was an ANBU….an ANBU Captain for Kami's sake! This makes me look so bad…_Were the orange haired Uchiha's thoughts as he chased the laughing but still slightly terrified Naruto through the forest. The time was somewhere around six in the morning.

Gaara rolled his eyes and went back to crafting his latest sand statue, this time of a giant raven. On Itachi's request of course. Not a problem, since it gave him something to do during the night, while the others slept. Sasuke didn't open his eyes from his target practice, concentrating fully. He had woken up early again, eager to learn as much as possible.

It had been about a week and a half since Itachi had found them, and already he had upped their training, much to the three boys' exhaustion. Gaara was having Chakra control drilled into him, so he could better wield his sand to his will, rather than have it flying around uncontrolled. The statue-making actually was an effective exercise for him, much like tree walking in terms of refining and directing his Chakra.

Sasuke had his Taijutsu worked on, and was in the process of increasing his accuracy and timing. When he was on breaks, he would read up on **Katon** Jutsus from his clan scrolls, as well as helping Gaara to finish off his statues with his flame-band. Naruto, like Gaara, was trying to control his vast quantity of Chakra, starting with tree-walking, and eventually water-walking.

Itachi finally caught the mischievous blonde and dragged him back into the clearing, his red eyes twitching in irritation. Oh, the gaki would get it now._ No one_ makes a fool out of Uchiha Itachi! …And gets away with it!

"Now that I have apprehended you Naruto, it is time for today's training session." Itachi stated blankly, but the blonde caught the evil glint in the oldest boy's crimson eyes._ Oh kami…what have I done!_

Naruto gulped loudly. "Y-yes Itachi-sensei-sama?" The blue eyed boy suddenly had found it within himself to show respect…how curious.

Itachi 'Uchiha-glared' him into recoiling. "You shall warm up with thirty sprints around this forest, followed by one hundred paced runs. You will then do fifty push-ups, sit-ups and increase those leg weights I got you by another fifty pounds, before running thirty times around the campsite. Be grateful I am merciful on you today. After an hours rest for lunch, you will read,_ yes Naruto read_, don't make that face, the Taijutsu scrolls as well as the history and strategy scrolls. For dinner, you will sit and watch while Otouto, Gaara and I eat the last of your ramen supply. Rice is healthier anyway." Itachi turned and began to walk back towards the others, to oversee their training.

Naruto couldn't speak. He was in a state of shock. Itachi's glanced back at the stunned blonde and gave his final comment. "And Naruto, next time you try and prank me I will _really_ let you suffer."

Naruto fainted.

Itachi walked away with a chuckle. Oh, it was good to be an evil thirteen year old.

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"Agggh!"

A shocked scream rang through the forest, causing the roosting birds to take flight and small animals to jump in fright, before burrowing themselves into the bushes.

Sasuke and Itachi, who had been giving the younger a lecture on the proper use of** Katon**, rushed towards the sound, soon being joined by a worried Naruto. The scream was Gaara's.

As the three concerned Shinobi jumped onto the scene, Itachi looking around instantly for danger, they soon realised why Gaara had yelled out.

Gaara was bleeding.

The red head had a large gash across his torso, going diagonally from just above his belly button and stopping just short from his left shoulder. Itachi quickly determined that it was not life threatening, and so stood back, but still on guard, and let the other boys ask the questions.

"Gaara!" Naruto gasped, "What happened! Are you alright? Who did it? I'll kill them!" Naruto growled, his whisker marks deepening slightly.

"…I thought nothing could get through your sand?" The ever reasonable Sasuke asked, hiding his worry.

"It…It didn't…I was practicing with the sand, making it spin around me faster and faster but I made it go too close and…it cut me. This…blood…this is pain right?" Gaara asked desperately, looking utterly confused and miserable.

"Yeah but Gaara…didn't the sand protect you so you _couldn't_ be hurt? How could it hurt you!" Naruto's face was scrunched up as he tried to reason it out. Sasuke was silently pondering that as well, but could think of nothing to say. It was Itachi who spoke up.

"Shukaku had control over the sand, making it so you would never be injured by anything foreign…perhaps the sand itself cannot be stopped by the demon, as you cannot shield yourself from your own shield. Now that you are controlling the sand yourself, and you are less experienced then Shukaku in effectively mastering it, you can be hurt by the shield you wield. Interesting…"

Sasuke nodded in understanding at his Aniki's explanation, and Gaara's face smoothed out once again. Naruto's eyes were wide as he stared at their big-brother figure.

"Ne Itachi…you're really smart." The boy's big blue eyes blinked innocently, almost surprised.

Sasuke, Gaara _and_ Itachi face-palmed.

"You absolute _Dobe_!" Sasuke cried from behind his hand, ashamed.

"I agree." Gaara muttered, looking away.

Itachi said nothing._ New plan…get this kid to read more. Literature, Mathematics, Science and Jutsu Theory…and maybe some Kenjutsu Theory…_

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Gaara sat up high in a tree overlooking the campsite. He was thinking of what the day had revealed, and what it could mean for him. Earlier, he may have contemplated using it to kill himself. But now that he had Naruto, Sasuke and Itachi…he did not wish to end his life any longer. These people cared about him, and he would do anything for them. He loved them. Love, now that was something that the six year old was not yet accustomed to. It was irrational, and seemed to mean putting yourself at risk of the emotional pain. But he could never give it up, now that he had it. And than, a thought occurred.

"So that I never forget," the red head whispered to himself, "the one thing that Shukaku can never take away from me." He raised his arms to the night, and his sand stirred.

The three sleeping boys were woken by a scream, Gaara's scream, and for the second time in twenty-four hours, rushed to the scene.

Gaara looked up from his resting place, now on the ground. "Sorry I woke you up…I'm ok. Go back to sleep…"

In their tired states, only Itachi noticed anything different, but decided to leave explanations until a decent hour. The three bid Gaara goodnight once again, and climbed back into their tent.

Gaara smiled to himself, reaching up to touch his new scar/tattoo. The Kanji for Love was printed on his pale forehead in red._ I will never forget…what it is to love._

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ONE YEAR LATER

It was around 2.30am, and most of the village was asleep, bar the few straggling drunks who sat around benches, slurring nonsense to nobody in particular. This was a relatively quiet, but hard working village, very rarely seeing hide or hair of Shinobi. But they were unaware that this night, residing in their most luxurious four star hotel, was a man marked for assassination. The thin, crooked-nosed man was a missing-nin from one of the minor Ninja villages, ranked as a high Chunin, but no stronger than any Genin from any of the great five villages, Konoha, Kumo, Kiri, Suna or Iwa (Leaf, Cloud, Water, Sand or Rock). The overconfident man slept easily, not even bothering to keep any weapons by his bed.

A gentle mist spread over the silent village, obscuring the image of what looked like five dark silhouettes, moving gracefully through the streets. The ghost-like creatures paused outside of a simple, classical wooden double story building. It read '_The Jukushui Inn' (The Sound Sleep Inn)_.

The tallest of the cloaked figures raised an arm in a wordless signal, and the three smallest bodies, all similar in height, lowered their hoods, scanning the area. In the darkness, no features could be seen at all. The three leapt away in an instant, disappearing to do their various jobs, to assure that there would be no interruptions.

The tallest looked down at his remaining companion, taller than the other three by almost four inches. This was not just some random assassination, no, this was training. In particular, training to kill, without the previously obvious hesitations. To be a Ninja, one must not hesitate, or it will surely be the death of you, and those relying on you.

"Are you ready?" The taller figure asked quietly, voice not carrying beyond his partner's well trained ears.

The more slender figure nodded, dropping her hood to her shoulders. Her long brown hair flew free in the gentle breeze, still not enough to blow away the stubborn mist. A glint could be seen in the darkness, as the young girl, no older than ten, raised what looked like needles, made of ice that had come from seemingly nowhere.

"Of course, Itachi-san. I am ready."

The taller of the two nodded, pleased. The one now recognised as Itachi also lowered his hood, red eyes gleaming in the night.

"Then let us continue…Haku."

The girl smiled, and raised her weapons before disappearing, Itachi following a moment after.

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The man was never seen again, nor was any evidence found at the scene, baffling the local law enforcement, until it was assumed that he had simply left in the early morning, not alerting anybody. How rude, worrying the poor hotel owners. The people would shake their heads and move onto another topic, and the man's disappearance was soon forgotten. Swept away, just like the night of mist.

…**HAKU! And yes, Haku is a girl in this fic. I couldn't be too boy centric, could I? Gaara just isn't GAARA without his Love tattoo, but at least now the circumstances of it are better. I laughed to myself when Itachi uncontrollably regressed into his Big-Brother-Against-Little-Brother state, I think that their bond was too strong to have disappeared so quickly and easily.**

**-TITM**


	8. Chapter Seven

**Disclaimer: I did own Naruto, but on my way to the publishers I got lost on the road of life. In my desperation to get back on track, I left my entire life's work of Naruto sitting on a bench in a nearby restaurant. The waiter's name was Masashi Kishimoto. Bastard made a fortune.**

**Sorry this took longer than before, I got distracted by my other story 'Flying With Blood Stained Wings'. Well the weather sucks here, my whole street is underwater. Nothing life threatening of course, but annoying as hell. And wet. It's very wet…well, on with the chapter.**

_Flashback_

_A young girl was moving stealthily through a back alley behind a local restaurant. It was Thursday, and Thursday was garbage night. But to her, it was food night. She ran her once soft hands though matting brown hair and covered her stomach when it tried to growl out loud._

_A thick muscled cook kicked opens the back door, slamming it behind him. He grunted as he hoisted the bulging bag over his shoulder, while his beefy hand lifted the dumpster lid. The bag was tossed in carelessly, squelching quietly. The lid was forced down with a resounding _BANG_, causing the on-edge girl to jump, her elbow knocking a nearby cardboard box, which thankfully did not fall over._

_The large man however seemed to have heard the slight scraping of cardboard and looked around suspiciously. When his eyes roamed over the area she hid in, the girl flinched and shook with fear._

_No, not fear that this man would hurt her. But that _she_ would hurt _him_. She had killed her own father, what kind of a monster was she? She controlled the ice, because she was a cold hearted and evil person. It was only natural that be the way it was._

_She had lived a good, relatively sheltered childhood. Kaa-san would tend to her every need and tell her stories before bed, and Tou-san would ruffle her hair affectionately and smile proudly whenever she accomplished something._

_That is, until the day she had discovered her cursed blood. Her 'Kekkei Genkai'. It was a horrid thing to even mention around those parts, let alone possess. She had not at first understood why she could freeze the water, thinking it just some amazing trick to impress her parents with. She had run to her Kaa-san in excitement, showing her what she had done._

_Her mother had screamed and slapped her, yelling that she was _never_ to do that ever again. Her Kaa-san had never hit her before, or even raised her voice. Kaa-san didn't realise that Tou-san was in the next room, having walked in at the wrong moment and had seen everything, before retreating._

_His 'wife', he had loved that lying bitch, who was only using him. She was one of those vile people with a Kekkei Genkai, disguising herself as an innocent housewife, just waiting to strike and lead them into another war. And she had even used him for reproducing. That 'child' was not his daughter any longer, no, she was one of them. A warrior-demon, how could he have been so blind! It was time to put things right. He walked into the kitchen, just in time to see the younger monster leave. Never mind, he would get her soon enough. Ignoring his 'wife's greeting, he picked up the large knife she had been using to prepare dinner, and attacked her viciously, each stab an expression of the hatred and betrayal he felt._

_He stood there, staring at his blood soaked hands and the dying corpse in front of him. And he waited for the other Thing to return._

_But his daughter's ability had protected her, piecing the man with icy spikes, effectively killing him. It was then that she started living on the streets._

_The cook had gone back inside now, and she glanced around once, twice, three times before speeding over to the dumpster, struggling to lift the heavy metal lid and retrieve her next meal. She had long since had to become accustomed to the stench and taste that came with scavenging._

_After salvaging what she could; stale bread, limp browning vegetables and overcooked rice, she channelled her Kekkei Genkai, forming water into her open palms out of nowhere. She drank the frigid liquid greedily, all the while hating herself for resorting to using it, again._

_She crept away from the dark alley, bolting through the shadows until she reached her latest sleeping place. Sure, she had to share it with a few reluctant street dogs, but at least they kept her warm._

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_The brown eyed girl was woken from her nightmares by the soft but steadily rising growls of the dogs. Her sensitive ears picked up light footsteps; after all you don't live as long on the streets as she had without adapting. The footsteps did not change their course, coming slowly closer._

_The person...no, people, there was more than one, stopped in front of where the brunette was huddled in the shadows. Four people, one being significantly taller, perhaps older? The other three seemed to be children, a little younger than her. The one with the blonde hair and strange marks on his face followed the gaze of his companions, the two black haired boys and the red head. They must have heard the dogs._

"_Come out. There is no point in hiding when we know you are there." The taller boy ordered._

_Oh Kami, they had found her…this could not end well. It never did. Nevertheless, she had no choice now, so she stood up and walked out into the limited glow if the moonlight._

_The pale, red haired one's emerald eyes scanned her quickly; his blood red tattoo stood out in shocking contrast to his skin tone, but somehow suited him perfectly._

_The smaller black haired one locked gazes with her, and she could see nothing but curiosity and pity in his eyes. It would not last long, not when they realised what her blood contained. She lifted her chin in defiance._

_The blonde one's blue eyes roamed over her dishevelled state, and a flash of understanding crossed his face. Please, how could he understand? He was not a monster._

_The older one had his long black hair tied in a basic, low ponytail, but bangs hung next to his crimson eyes. Ok…so maybe this guy _could_ be a demon. She shuddered._

_After looking her over, his eyes faded into a dark grey, almost black. But it was the blonde who spoke up first._

"…_What is your name?" he asked softly, as if raising his voice would startle her into flight. She considered not answering, but what did she have to lose anyway?_

"…_My name is Haku."_

_End Flashback_

Haku lay in her tent, snuggled amongst her covers, keeping as much warmth in as possible. She was alone, since the Uchiha brothers and Naruto shared, and Gaara didn't sleep. They still had night watch shifts, even if it was not necessary with Gaara around. But it was a good habit to get into, and it also gave the red head someone to talk to, if he should feel so inclined.

Imagine her shock to learn that the two black haired boys were the last of their clan, possessing the Kekkei Genkai, Sharingan, although Sasuke had not yet awoken his own. She had felt she was alone in the world, but was thrown into disbelief at hearing how the village of Konoha revered the Kekkei Genkais, while her own had considered it something punishable by death.

And Gaara and Naruto…were Jinchuriki. 'Human Sacrifices'. Treated their whole lives with hatred much like Kiri reserved for the Kekkei Genkais. She knew now that they were wrong, the Uchiha's had been sure to drive that into her mind. A Kekkei Genkai was a gift, and while it may cause pain to others or yourself, it can and will protect you. It is just another weapon to be wielded.

She had once thought herself an evil monster for killing her father, but her bonds with her four precious people had begun to heal her. They had taught her things, trained her in a way that nobody before had ever done. They were like a new family to her, after only a few months. Her brothers.

She would do anything to protect her precious people, kill or die.

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"HAPPY BIRTHDAY GAARA-CHAN!" Haku and Naruto yelled in unison enthusiastically to the left of sitting boy. They were all in a disjointed circle, the youngest boy being the centre of attention.

Itachi just nodded stoically from the red heads right, but let a small smile slip onto his face. Sasuke, who was sitting across from Gaara, grinned openly at the look on his friend's face. It clearly read _'Does-not-compute_'.

But then again, the boy had probably never had his birthday celebrated before.

While remaining the quiet child Suna had turned their backs on, he had taken on a slightly more disturbing pastime than his sculpturing. He was now known as Naruto's protégé, and had been trying his hand at pranking. Unfortunately, they could never punish him. Stupid sand. So, they punished Naruto.

"Gaara! Open my present first!" the blonde said, bouncing up and down in anticipation.

"Dobe, calm down or you'll scare him away." Sasuke shot at his best friend, smirking. Itachi joined in, and Naruto's blood boiled._ Two_ Uchiha smirks. At his expense. Oh hell no.

"Shut up Teme and Shiwa!" he exclaimed angrily. Itachi's eye twitched violently and Sasuke's face was red from holding back his laughter._ Shiwa! 'Wrinkles'? I'm going to Mangekyo that brat._ Itachi thought sadistically, already planning the boy's slow and painful demise. Haku decided to play the peacemaker. How had they ever survived without her?

"Anyway Gaa-chan, now that you're seven, Naru-chan and Sasu-chan can't boss you around anymore." She said, winking.

"I didn't let them anyway Haku-neechan. And when they are older than me again, I still won't let them." Gaara stated, a smile playing on his lips.

Presents were opened eagerly, despite Gaara's trying to not to seem overly excited. Naruto had given him a crimson cloak, the same colour as his hair, with sand-storm designs littering the edges and 'Baka' stitched into the back in black. Gaara's eyes had narrowed and he flicked sand in the blonde's eyes. Ignoring Naruto's wails, Sasuke handed Gaara a small storage scroll, which when opened, revealed a black and red gourd, bigger and far better than his old one. It seemed to be made out of dyed sand, but was much lighter than his original gourd. This also had the kanji for 'Baka' engraved in a startling white. Damn, those two must have planned it.

Itachi had given him a Shouji game board, so he could play it with whoever was on guard duty, or even with a sand clone. He said it also helped develop advanced strategical planning skills, and would only aid him in future battles. Plus, the Nara's seemed to find it entertaining enough.

Somewhere hidden in the leaves, a village shook with the force of a whole clan's sneezes, followed by the booming, unanimous mutter of "Troublesome".

Haku had spent the last few weeks trying to come up with a way to teach Gaara how to use his sand in the same way she used her ice. It had taken a lot of studying and time spent in whatever libraries that were available, but she finally had the theory down, written in a scroll for him. She had also made all the birthday food, as Sasuke and Naruto would probably have given them all food poisoning and Itachi was busy on missions, acting as a mercenary. Yes, they had almost unlimited funds in the bank scroll, but they rarely used it, if at all possible to avoid it. You never knew when you could need it.

The four exchanged a glance, nodding and facing Gaara seriously. He raised a non-existent eyebrow.

"…What?"

"It's time for you to give _us_ something!" Naruto beamed cheekily. Gaara was confused; he had not known that he had needed to get gifts for them as well.

"Dobe, don't confuse him again." Sasuke rolled his eyes. Itachi sighed. _A clan heir, to ANBU Captain, to S-class Missing-nin, to this? Kami must hate me, always giving me the most stressful jobs._

Haku giggled. "Gaa-chan, we want you to give us the same tattoo that you have. So we match, it's a way of making a statement! That we will be part of each other, forever! Could you?" She begged, activating her puppy-eyes. While he really had no choice, Gaara couldn't help but be pleased that they wanted him to do this. But he didn't want to hurt them.

"…It will hurt Nee-chan…are you all sure?" Gaara asked uncertainly. They all nodded. But Haku wasn't done yet.

"I can put ice on the spot we choose, so it will be numb! Ok, so Sasuke, where do you want it?"

Eyes turned to the contemplating boy, in the typical Uchiha thinking pose.

"…My upper left arm." He finally decided.

"Cool, how about you Naru?" Haku asked the grinning blonde.

"On my bu-"

"NARUTO!"

"Sorry Haku-neechan…hmm…um, over my heart, I think."

"Perfect...I'm getting mine on my lower back. And Itachi-nii?"

"…I don't know."

"Oh c'mon! Think!"

"…My arm already has an ANBU tattoo, so…I will get it on my hip bone."

"…Your hip?...Really?" Haku said sceptically. Dark eyes bled red and spun dangerously as Itachi glared.

"Hai. That is where." His voice was threatening, daring her to make another comment on it. She stayed silent.

Four Sweatdrops hit the ground unanimously, and Itachi finally stopped glaring at Haku.

Gaara smiled, before starting to argue with Naruto again about whose demon would beat who's in a fight. Sasuke had the deciding vote. It was good to be with family.

Kyuubi kicks Shukaku's ass, unless alcohol is involved.

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Sasuke rubbed his arm gently. Haku's numbing coldness had faded, and his new tattoo had started to hurt a bit. Itachi had gone first, and was now walking around like he felt nothing. He probably didn't. Haku had gone after Sasuke, and was pouting on the grass, lying on her stomach. She couldn't lie on her back yet. Naruto was with Gaara now.

A few minutes later, the blonde walked back into their campsite, red head in tow.

They hung around the fire together for a few more hours, until Itachi told them to go to bed, as they had to move on in the morning. Of course, they didn't listen, choosing to ignore him completely.

Itachi, being Itachi, would not stand for such behaviour from his younger companions, and he proceeded to place a Genjutsu over them all.

_It was night time, funny, when had it gotten so dark? Then suddenly, they were alone._

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_Naruto looked around wildly, looking for some sign of the others. Nothing. A dim glow in the forest pulled him away from the safety of the campfire, and he walked up to the luminous eyes. A third glow began to form, stretching out into a terrifying grin in the darkness. Oh Kami, what the hell! It was a huge cat, not Tora, no this cat was much larger. This was a true demon feline._

"_Are you Alice?" The cat asked the blonde, chuckling. His grin became wider._

"_No, no nooo!" Naruto cried in horror, before passing out._

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_Haku walked through the ice cave, marvelling at the beauty of it. She passed by a frozen creature or two, paying them no mind._

_At the end of the cave, there was a man. He was wearing something between clown-trousers and pyjamas, a mask covering his lower face and a _big_ sword on his back. He wore no shirt._

"_Haku," he said, "You are my tool."_

_Haku stepped back...what was this? He couldn't mean-_

"_You live to do my bidding…now do as I command, Tool." He said, reaching for his sword._

"_No! I am not a prostitute! Oh fuck no!" Haku screamed at the shocked man, whose hand had stilled, just above his sword's hilt._

"_I'm gonna freeze your balls off bastard!" Haku yelled, dashing towards the man, who quickly knocked her out with the blunt of his weapon. Prostitute…where the hell had she gotten that idea?_

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_Gaara was playing in the sandbox. He was five years old, and Yashamaru had given him permission to go outside today! The name 'Yashamaru' sparked anger in the boy, but he could not remember why. All of a sudden, the sand sucked him downwards, it was really quicksand!_

_He landed with a thud next to a brown river, on some weirdly sticky grass. Gaara sat up and glanced around himself. He was nearly choked by the stench of sugar in this place, Kami where was he?_

_Gaara leaned over the lake, dipping his hand inside. It…was this _chocolate?_ Yashamaru never let him have chocolate, but it definitely looked and smelled like it! He sat back down on the grass, feeling the brittle stems break underneath him. Wait…Gaara licked his hand that had not been dipped in the chocolate river. Sugar! This grass was made of sugar?_

_As if things could not get any weirder, an army of green haired midgets flooded the place. Their skin was orange! It looked like one of Naruto's pranks…but who was Naruto? Shrugging it off, Gaara started to pay attention to the weird people in front of him. And behind him…Kami, he was surrounded. And then, it began._

"_Oompa Loompa, do-ba-dee-doo,  
>We've got the perfect advice for you.<br>Oompa Loompa, do-ba-dee-dee,  
>Blackened eyes, you really need sleep.<br>What do you get when you kill for fun?  
>Killing and threatening as much as a gun-"<em>

What the hell is a gun?_ Thought Gaara. And just what were these freaks on about?_

"_What are you at being so very pale?  
>Weak, unused muscles making you so frail.<br>We don't like the look of it!  
>Oompa Loompa do-ba-dee-da,<br>Given good training you will go far.  
>You will live on in history too,<br>Like the oompa loompa do-ba-dee-doo.  
>Do-ba-dee-doo!"<em>

_Gaara was now in a foetal position, rocking back and forth madly with his arms clutched around his legs. His nails dug into his skin and his sand swirled wildly. What the fuck was that? It was inhumane._

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_Sasuke was bored. Class had finished over an hour ago, and still neither of his parents nor Itachi had come to pick him up. All well, he would just have to walk home then. But he was not prepared for the horrors that awaited him._

_Sakura ran up in a sickening pink wedding dress, squealing in his ear. She was soon joined by Ino, in a light blue wedding kimono. They fought viciously and scratched at each other's faces. Sasuke glanced behind them, only to see a mob of brides stampeding towards him, somehow very fast despite their ridiculous heels._

_His Kaa-san came out of nowhere, boasting about how her little boy would have the most beautiful wedding ever. With over one hundred brides._

_Sasuke was forced into a formal kimono, struggling the entire time. His father had paid off one of the Nara clan to keep him from escaping. Stupid shadow users. He was horrified to realise he had to claim devotion to these drooling girls and –shudder- kiss them all! Ino had fainted, but Sakura had refused to let go and almost molested the trapped boy on the spot._

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All four woke up simultaneously, screaming bloody murder. Sasuke was shaking, not even Itachi's **Tsukuyomi** had scared him as much. Well ok, maybe that was bit of an exaggeration. But still, it was close.

All of the affected were mumbling incoherently.

"Cat…no…evil…Alice…teeth…" Naruto stuttered, failing to hold in his tears.

Gaara was not any better. "Orange! Orange and green…sugar world…oompa."

Haku was shivering. "He had a HUGE SWORD…his tool…hit me with his weapon…"

Sasuke vaguely noticed it sounded like Haku-neechan had also been molested. He made a note to kill the bastard, and then went back to mumbling about "Lip rapes and weddings", while constantly spitting out a bad taste in his mouth. He looked across the fire. Itachi was standing there smugly.

"Now, if you do not wish to experience that again, I suggest you all get into bed."

They scrambled to reach the tent, except Gaara, who just glared.

"I can't sleep. Why was I put through that!" he demanded.

Itachi shrugged. "I forgot."

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The next morning they woke up at the crack of dawn, glaring at the unfazed Itachi, and set out in the direction of their new mission.

**This wasn't as long as before…sorry…that was SO random, even to me.**

**SECOND DISCLAMIER: I DO NOT OWN ALICE IN WONDERLAND OR WILLY WONKA.**

**-TITM**


	9. Chapter Eight

**Disclaimer: If you have come this far into the story and still believe that I own Naruto, there really is no help for you my friend.**

**Ugh I'm getting too lazy with this story! I will still try and update in around a week each chapter, but my other fics are taking up some time.**

Naruto was sulking as he hefted his bag higher onto his back. He was the only person carrying bags, and why was this? Because everybody else had their stuff sealed into scrolls, that's why! But stupid Itachi-nii said that this was, 'his punishment for pranking them at an indecent hour of the morning'.

But all he did was push Gaara off the bridge and into the water! Seeing the glaring red head covered in dripping mud that was once his precious sand was hilarious. Even the old hypocrite himself had his lips twitching at the sight!

But nooo, they all said 'BAD NARUTO!' and dumped this crap on him. What great friends they were.

Naruto glared at the smug Gaara. Only those who knew the red head well enough would be able to pick up on his satisfied aura.

The group continued on through the early morning mist, ignoring the mutters of 'Gaara-Baka', 'stupid traitors' and 'revenge pranks'.

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"Itachiii! Why are you leaving us behind_ again_?" Sasuke asked, not _whined_. Uchihas never whine.

"Because Otouto, while I allow you all to participate in easier missions, such as physical labour, retrieving items and low-class assassinations, you are all far too young to young to battle other Shinobi. Haku will soon be old enough, but she is supposed to be keeping an eye on you three." Itachi said for the tenth time, not even glancing up from packing his bag.

"_Aniki we are not children!_ We are Ninja now, so stop babying us!" Sasuke huffed, crossing his arms over his chest.

"YEAH!" Naruto cried, "Itachi-nii we're not even that much younger than you anyway!"

"I do not see why I cannot come," Gaara sulked, "My sand protects me unless I stop it from doing so."

Haku sighed wearily and rubbed her hand over her face. "Ne, Itachi? What is this mission again? I was half asleep when you told us."

Itachi snorted. "The Mizukage of Kiri has been tipped off that the Kaguya clan may be planning an attack on Kirigakure. He sent a summons out to locate me, although it took a few months, as he had heard of my skills and wishes me to defend him, and fight if need be. It is an A-class mission, but if I must battle it becomes S-class."

"Y'know Aniki, I'm still getting used to you being so _talkative."_ Sasuke teased, raising an eyebrow.

"Hn." Itachi replied, causing Sasuke to laugh, disguising it poorly as a cough.

"I don't get it, what's so special about this clan?" Naruto mumbled.

"The Kaguya clan are known as ferocious warriors, with an insatiable bloodlust. They are one of the main reasons Kekkei Genkai are so feared here, and led to the purges." Itachi said, glancing at Haku, whose face showed no visible reaction.

Sasuke looked at his Aniki in surprise. "Kekkei Genkai?"

"Hai, the Kaguya clan's Kekkei Genkai is the Shikotsumyaku, or 'dead bone pulse'. They are told to have the ability to sprout bones from anywhere in their bodies and use them as weapons."

Naruto's nose wrinkled up at the thought. "Eww…but actually kind of cool."

Haku spoke up. "But why is the Mizukage hiring you if he hates Kekkei Genkai so much? Surely he knows about the Sharingan."

"Hai, but sometimes you must fight fire with fire, or in this case Kekkei Genkai with Kekkei Genkai. I would not usually agree to work for such a prejudiced person, but to fight one of the Kaguya clan strikes me as…fun." Itachi mused. He noticed them all edging away from him.

"What?"

"Uhrm…nothing Aniki." Sasuke said unsurely. Gaara's gaze however did not waver.

"You are strange." The red head without eyebrows told the oldest Uchiha bluntly.

"…Why thank you." Itachi replied, sealing his bag into a scroll.

Everyone else face faulted…including Gaara.

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They five arrived at their destination…and found themselves looking down on a battleground. Corpses littered across the area and many were piled high and burning, the stench causing all but Itachi to dry reach. After a moment, he decided to comment.

"…Well damn. Guess I can't fight one after all…" he said emotionlessly, glaring at the dead as if they had wronged him personally by dying too early.

Naruto and Sasuke sweatdropped while Haku and Gaara glanced at each other in a '_what-are-we-going-to-do-about-him?' _ fashion.

Itachi sighed and turned to his companions. "Stay here boys, I'm checking for any survivors. Haku, could you set up camp? We may as well stay the night."

"Hai Itachi-nii." Haku said, still a little pale at the sight of all the bloodshed. She disappeared into the trees nearby.

"Hey! What about us! What are we supposed to do?" Naruto demanded indigently. Sasuke raised his eyebrow and Gaara stopped blinking…just to freak the older Uchiha out.

Itachi sighed irritably and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Naruto, you will stay out of trouble. Sasuke, I taught you that, you aren't cool. Gaara…_stop it_."

Naruto shut up, Sasuke glared and Gaara…continued to stare.

…

…

"Gaara, so help me Kami I _will_ bring back the Oompa Loompas." Itachi threatened.

Gaara's already white face drained of any and all colour, leaving him as pasty as the corpses below. He wisely averted his eyes.

"Good," the smug Uchiha gloated, "Now all three of you…go train or something." He said before jumping away.

It was silent.

"…"

"…"

"…He's still pissed about the fight being over, isn't he?" the frightened red head monotoned. Sasuke and Naruto nodded, before spinning on their heels and walking in the opposite direction.

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"Dobe! Slow down before you get lost in the mist!" Sasuke yelled out to the rapidly fading form of his friend.

"Make me Teme! It's not my fault you're so slow!" the blonde called from ahead. Sasuke turned to Gaara.

"You know what to do." He said calmly.

The red haired boy nodded and sent his sand to capture the runaway fox-boy. Sasuke knew Gaara had caught him when a loud "Aww! No fair!" rang through the air in a familiar voice. The mist parted to reveal Naruto, held upside down by a cloud of sand by his feet. He was pouting and had his arms crossed over his chest. His dark over-coat fell under his armpits and the orange shirt beneath flashed brightly.

"Gaara!" the blonde growled, "Cheater. I hate you Baka. You're just as bad as the Teme."

Gaara's eyes widened and he lost his hold of the sand, and Naruto smashed into the ground, cursing.

"Y-you hate me?" the red head asked fearfully, sitting in a foetal position and looking as if tears were close. Sasuke looked ready to pummel Naruto.

Naruto quickly pulled himself off the ground. "NO! No I don't hate you Gaara! You're one of my best friends! I'm sorry! I didn't mean it!" The whiskered boy yelled frantically, pulling his hair out of its roots in panic.

Gaara looked up with a smirk. "Fooled you."

"W-WHAT? GAARA YOU…WERE FAKING IT?" Naruto screamed in disbelief.

"Hai. You have just been pranked by 'Gaara-no-Baka'. You truly are a dobe."

Naruto was silent in his shock…his protégé had pulled one over on him…how could this be? Sasuke started laughing hysterically at the look of horror mixed with pride on the blonde's face.

Gaara suddenly straighten up and looked to the left. "Shh!" Gaara ordered. "...I hear something." He told them quietly.

They began to slowly creep in the direction of the sound.

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Itachi looked down at the deceased Shinobi before him. Many wore the village's symbol, but others did not. These Ninja all had two distinctive red dots above their eyes, the Kaguya clan mark. In the ANBU, Itachi had never met a Kaguya, but he had heard many stories about their ruthlessness in battle.

Too bad the fools had all killed themselves in a suicide attack. Even in death they had grins across the line of sanity splitting their faces. Their lust for blood was the death for their clan, just as the hunger for power ended the Uchiha clan…

Itachi continued searching through the bodies, storing some of the more salvageable weapons for future use into a scroll. Most of these came from the Kiri Shinobi, as the Kaguya fought with their own bones…what a spectacularly terrifying Kekkei Genkai. Some may even call it beautiful in a certain way. Others would call it gruesome.

Itachi eventually reached another slain Kaguya, this one wearing the honorary robes of a clan head. Itachi gave the corpse a disdainful look, before moving on.

_You lead your own people into a slaughter…and you died like a dog…No less than you deserved._

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A young boy stood by a stream, staring at his own reflection in the water. His white hair parted in a zigzag and he had two red spots dotting his brow. The boy turned away, his low-tied hair swishing behind him._ Who am I? What …is my purpose for living? When they are all dead…_

It had been almost a week since the Kaguya clan had all but disappeared, but then again, he never had been all too good at judging time, as most of his life was spent locked away in the darkness.

Kimimaro gripped his bone dagger tighter in his fingers, holding on to the one solid object he had. The mist surrounding him was thicker now, but he thought he saw something…over there, on the ground. A lone flower, its petals tipped backwards had sprouted here, in the middle of nowhere. Alone…just like him.

The boy knelt down in front of the small plant, unaware of the watching snake, licking it's lips at it's desired prey.

"Why are you blooming in a place like this?" the boy asked curiously.

…

"How come you won't answer me huh?"

…

"…Why the heck are you talking to a flower?"

Kimimaro's head whipped up and he pulled his dagger in front of him…only to find three kids giving him weird looks.

The one who had spoken was blonde, had bright blue eyes and three marks on each cheek. The one next to him had black hair and dark eyes, while the boy on the end had blood red hair and pale emerald eyes. Kimimaro got the feeling that the red haired boy was raising an eyebrow at him…but he didn't have any.

"W-who are you!" Kimimaro asked sternly, not lowering his dagger. The blonde was once again the one to speak.

"I'm Naruto! That is Sasuke," he said, pointing to the Uchiha, "and he is Gaara." He finished, gesturing to the red head. "Who are you?"

"I…I am Kimimaro." He said nervously, he didn't know how to interact with people!

"What was with the flower?" The one named Sasuke asked blandly. Kimimaro's cheeks flushed in embarrassment…he felt a little insane now.

"I-Well, um, I don't know!" he cried in confusion. The red head –Gaara- took pity on him.

"…It _is_ a nice flower Kimimaro." He said, and the Kaguya shot him a look of gratefulness.

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The snake was at first irritated at the interruption, but was now licking his lips with it's long tongue in anticipation. What were the odds!_ The last Kaguya…the Kyuubi Jinchuriki, the youngest remaining Uchiha AND the Suna Jinchuriki! Those fools told Sasori he was killed, but it is not that easy to kill a demon host…particularly that of the Ichibi, Shukaku._ The snake was near shivering in excitement._ I would have preferred Itachi-kun over the younger…but he would never follow me willingly. Soon I shall possess the two strongest Kekkei-Genkai, and two of the Biju! _Oh, how his former organisation would despise him for that.

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_Where the hell did they go?_ Itachi wondered in irritation as he stalked through the mist, looking for the missing boys. He finally detected their chakra signatures not too far north from his position. He sped towards them, cursing himself for teaching them such good chakra-suppression skills.

When he appeared in the scene, he found them speaking to a boy around the same age as Haku. The boy was holding a bone dagger to his side and had two red dots above his eyes…_A Kaguya!_ He had thought they were all dead! Itachi made his way towards the boys, keeping himself hidden in the thick mist for the time being.

The Kaguya boy did not seem at all bloodthirsty like Itachi had heard was the clan's norm. If anything, the child's image was rather fragile. But the amount of dried blood staining his clothes spoke of otherwise in battle.

Itachi's eyes narrowed into slits as he got a good look at the boy's pallor…his skin was sickly pale, as if he had never before lived in the sunshine. His legs moved unsurely, as if he was not used to using them for very long. The boy's whole demeanour spoke of uncertainty and caution…but also fear. Just what kind of life had this kid led?

He stepped out of the mist, and cleared his throat for attention.

"Aniki!" Sasuke yelped in surprise, "Don't _do _that!"

"Ne, Itachi-nii, this is Kimimaro! …He talks to flowers." Naruto informed the oldest boy, who also gave Kimimaro a strange look.

"N-no! I…oh forget it." He mumbled in defeat.

"You are of the Kaguya clan, are you not Kimimaro?" Itachi stated more than asked, but Kimimaro nodded. Naruto, Sasuke and ever Gaara gasped.

"Hai…my clan let me out to fight…but now I am the only one left." Kimimaro said in a deadened voice.

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The snake's eyes widened in shock, it had not even sensed him!_ Ku ku ku…that boy truly is a prodigy._ But why was he here, and with these brats?_ And here I thought that little Sasuke-kun would hate Itachi-kun…no matter, soon I shall have them all! _

"_Itachi-kun…you cannot keep them from me forever." _ It whispered, the words no more than a tone on the wind.

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Itachi stiffened and his Sharingan spun furiously, going straight to its Mangekyo state. But the snake was already long gone._ Orochimaru…you will never touch them._

Outwardly, Itachi sighed. It's going to get dark soon. We must get to camp now. Haku will be upset if we are late."

"Aww, you're no fun." Naruto pouted.

Kimimaro smiled slightly at them. "Well I should be on my way as well then…I pray that you find your purpose in life, as I hope to do. Farewell." He told them, bowing low. Kimimaro turned and began to walk away, into the mist.

Only to be grabbed by the collar and dragged behind Itachi.

"H-hey!" he gasped, wriggling around. The other three were staring at Itachi in shock, who did not even look back.

"I've wanted to fight a Kaguya for a while now…and since you are the only one left, I'm not letting you get away. Deal with it Kimimaro." Itachi said in an almost bored voice, as if he wasn't kidnapping a ten year old.

Naruto shrugged and began following them. Gaara sent Sasuke a_ look_, clearly asking what the heck Itachi was doing this time. Sasuke sighed and shook his head.

_Orochimaru…you will get none of them. I will make sure of that._

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"Haku!" Itachi called as they reached the newest campsite.

"Itachi-nii? What's up?" Haku asked, crawling out of her tent. Her eyes widened in surprise at seeing Kimimaro stumbling behind him. "Who's that?" she asked. Naruto answered happily.

"Oh that's Kimimaro, Haku-nee. He's the last of the Kaguyas…we found him talking to a-"

"DON'T SAY IT!" Kimimaro begged. He didn't need this girl thinking he was nuts as well.

Haku tilted her head as she took in the new guy with curiosity. He had snow white hair and mint green eyes, with a very pale face. He also had red markings around the bottoms of his eyes, and two over his eyebrows. He looked close to her own age, sparking the vital question.

"Kimimaro…how old are you?" she asked, deceptively nonchalant.

"I am ten years old Haku-san…" he said quietly.

"YES! I'm still the second oldest!" she exclaimed, pumping a fist into the air. "I'm eleven, oh and you can just call me Haku. I am also from Kiri…my clan scattered during the purges. As far as I know I am the last of the Yuki clan. I have the Kekkei Genkai to create Hyoton jutsus…I don't know the real name, since I was raised as a civilian until I activated it." She told him, knowing how it felt to be the last one of your clan.

"Why didn't your parents tell you?" Kimimaro asked, confused.

"My…my Okaa-san kept her heritage a secret and was terrified when I awoke my Kekkei Genkai. My Otou-san…when he found out he killed Okaa-san and tried to kill me as well…my ice reacted, and killed him."

"Oh…" Kimimaro muttered, wishing he had never asked.

Haku purposely brightened her voice and smiled at the awkward boy. "Now we have two old men! Itachi-nii has wrinkles and you have white hair!" she exclaimed, and Sasuke actually fell over laughing. Naruto was clutching his sides in pain and Gaara had surrounded himself in sand so they couldn't see him shaking in laughter.

Itachi's eye twitched violently. Haku looked at him in concern.

"Ne, you ok Itachi-nii? Your face is kind of spasming…"

The boys laughed harder.

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Haku sat by the campfire, watching Itachi in concern. He seemed very on edge. She sighed.

"Itachi-nii, they'll be here soon."

Itachi said nothing.

…

…

…

…"WE'RE BACK!" Naruto cried out as he led the other three boys out of the forest. Sasuke was in the rear, Gaara to his left and Kimimaro to his right.

The younger boys had taken it upon themselves to train with the Kaguya, and Itachi had reluctantly agreed, telling them to be back by 6:00pm. It was now 6:14pm.

"You are late." Itachi glared. Sasuke sighed. Why did_ he_ always have to deal with his brother?

"Aniki, we didn't have a clock with us you know. I think we judged it pretty well…"

"No." Itachi interrupted. "You are still late."

"You don't even have a clock yourself. How would you know?" Gaara asked rhetorically, regretting it when the older Uchiha's eyes turned to him.

"I know."

"How?" Naruto pressed.

"I just do."

Haku giggled. "Itachi-nii you're worse than my Okaa-san was!"

Itachi froze. Horror overtook his mind and his ebony eyes glazed over in shock. He was so busy refusing to become his father…he had not even realised he was becoming his mother…oh Kami was too cruel…

Kimimaro's brow creased slightly. Were they like this all the time?...That couldn't be healthy. He shrugged.

During their training, Kimimaro had fairly easily disabled Sasuke and Naruto, but Gaara had really been a challenge to fight. His sand would protect him so Kimimaro's bones could not get to him, but luckily for Kimimaro he had hardened his bone-weapons so the sand could not crush them. In the end it was a tie.

"-maro. Hey, Kimimaro! FLOWER-BOY!" Naruto shouted, waving his hand in front of the Kaguya's face. Kimimaro glared slightly.

"Do not call me that." He warned the blonde, who rolled his eyes.

"So, where did you want it?"

"…Excuse me?"

"Your tattoo. We all have the same one…see Gaara's head? That one. He put it there to make up for the lack of eyebrows." Naruto told the white haired boy in a wise tone.

"Naruto. You know that I did not." Gaara growled, furiously glaring at the unconcerned blonde. Sasuke gave them both a look of exasperation, before explaining to the confused Kaguya.

"Tch, idiots. Anyway Kimimaro, it is basically is kind of like a clan symbol. It shows that you are and always will be one of us."

Kimimaro was shocked. They…wanted him to be 'one of them'?_ Him?_ He smiled tentatively.

"I…I will get it here." He said, pointing to under his neck, where his collar bones met.

Sasuke nodded. "Not bad…ok, GAARA! Stop arguing with the Dobe. Kimimaro has decided!"

Kimimaro walked into the tree line with the red head, passing a still stiffened Itachi on the way. Haku was trying desperately to snap the Uchiha out of it.

_Maybe…maybe I finally have a purpose to live…_

**Ok, in Canon when Kimimaro was talking to the flower, that was my reaction! And yes, very OOC Itachi, I know. They all are…but hey, nature versus nurture.**

**-TITM**


	10. Chapter Nine

**Disclaimer: I can't be bothered saying anything witty. I disclaim Naruto.**

**I only realised the NIGHT BEFORE a whole week was up since I lasted posted, that I actually hadn't written the next chapter yet. Oops. That's what I get for posting the next chapter of Flying With Blood Stained Wings a few days early…*sweatdrop* But I managed to do it! It's VERY not late!**

Sasuke growled fiercely at Haku, who glowered back. The sheer tension between the two was stifling. Sasuke took a deep breath.

"Haku-"

"No."

"But Haku-"

"I said no."

"B-"

"NO, NO TOMATOES!" she screamed.

Sasuke pouted. He didn't see why Haku-nee was so against having tomatoes for dinner. They were the best.

"Why!" he demanded like a bratty toddler. He had spent too much time around a certain Uzumaki…

"You had them for breakfast, and lunch! Not to mention those dried pieces for snacks! Enough is enough!" Haku stubbornly crossed her arms over her chest.

'Hey, how about ramen? Ramen!" Naruto cried, getting a glare from both Haku and Sasuke.

"Don't you start Naru-chan, ramen is not only unhealthy, but you want to have it every single day!" yelled.

…

…

…

"Ramen with tomatoes?" Naruto suggested, planning to compromise.

"Deal." Sasuke said quickly. Haku's face had turned red.

"HOW IS THAT BETTER?" she cried, pulling the roots of her hair out.

"It makes the ramen healthier and stops Sasuke eating plain tomatoes." The blonde said logically. Haku looked at his with suddenly emotionless eyes, before turning and calling in the direction of the boys' tent.

"…ITACHI-NII!"

Itachi stuck his head out of the flap. "Hai?"

"HOW DID YOU DEAL WITH THESE TWO, ALONE?" she begged for help or at least some advice.

"Easy." He replied smoothly. "Mangekyo Sharingan!" his eyes became bloody and swirled rapidly. Both boys paled.

"On second thoughts, fish with rice sounds lovely Haku-nee." Sasuke choked. Naruto nodded madly.

"Agreed." The blonde whispered. Haku smiled angelically.

"Thank you Itachi-nii!"

"Hn." He replied, disappearing from sight once again.

Kimimaro looked over from where he was playing Shouji with Gaara, who didn't bother to acknowledge the dramatic events. _I hope they aren't like this during missions…_the white haired boy thought nervously.

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"Ok, everybody had better pay attention. I'm not repeating myself." Itachi ordered with all the authority of a commander. "Haku, Naruto and Sasuke, you are Team One. Kimimaro, Gaara and I are Team Two."

"Itachi-nii…why are you sticking me with the brats?" Haku grumbled dejectedly.

"Team One are the first, attention grabbing attack, and Team Two will be the stealthier back up offence." He explained. "Gaara and Kimimaro are naturally quieter. While it is true Otouto can be relatively silent as well, his **Katon** may be of use for Team One."

"So, Naruto, Sasuke and I will attack the Kumo Genin and you three will take out the Sensei?" Haku clarified. Itachi nodded in the affirmative.

"Hai, thankfully they are fresh out of the Academy, so should not pose too much of a threat. Experience comes from battle, not just training."

"Hai Itachi-nii/Aniki!" the blonde and the youngest Uchiha said in unison, saluting like soldiers.

Itachi faced the quieter two boys. "Gaara, I want you to focus on getting possession the stolen jewel. Our client made it very clear its return is to be our highest priority. It is a lost family heirloom, and has been missing for generations before being stolen brought word about it." Gaara nodded. Itachi scanned the Kaguya contemplatively.

"Kimimaro, I would like to assist me in taking out the Sensei. I am curious about your battle abilities." He decided.

"Hai." Kimimaro replied, bowing his head in respect. Itachi shook his head in disbelief.

_Mother gets pregnant only once after me, and somehow I end up with _five _younger sibling figures harassing me relentlessly…Kami, kill me now. What have I ever done to deserve this? _

…

…

…_Besides killing Shisui…and the clan…_

…

…_and torturing Sasuke…and- you know what, never mind…_

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Tanaka Mai of Kumogakure puffed out her cheeks in annoyance at her teammates. Kinjo Joben and Yoshida Michio were at it again, wrestling like children in the mud. The lilac haired girl watched in irritation as Michio pushed Joben's face into the damp dirt, staining the boy's dark blue hair a filthy brown. Their Jounin Sensei, Mori Tadao, stood with his hands on his hips, glaring at his male students. This was their first C-rank mission, and already they were acting so immaturely!

"Joben ,Michio, stop that right this instant or I'm sending us all back to Kumo!" he threatened. Michio was quick to leap off his downed teammate, redoing his short, light orange ponytail, as it had become skewed during the fight. Joben pulled himself off the ground and attempted fruitlessly to brush the muck off his clothes. He scowled at Michio with angry brown eyes. Michio glared back, with his unusually yellow irises flashing.

"Guys, you are both such bakas! How the heck are we gonna get the package to the client if you keep this up? It's ridiculous!" the girl screeched.

"Shut up the fuck up Mai, I'm sick of this guy's shit." Michio sneered. Joben snarled.

"It's not my fault you can't take anything but a misplaced compliment asshole. Including a punch."

Just as the two were preparing to attack again, Mai whipped out her Sai and held the weapon threateningly.

"Stop whining like Academy students. This is reality – learn to survive in it or you'll die." She told them icily.

"Now, calm down, all of you!" Tadao-sensei yelled. "We are a team. Learn to act like it or you'll all be going back to the Academy at this rate!" he growled.

Mai snorted. Her pride refused to consider that possibility, her blood was too noble for such a thing. Her father's great aunt was the former Daimyo's wife! Her violet eyes, darker than her hair, glinted as she glared at her teammates, daring them to cross her.

Tadao-sensei sighed in defeat. "Come on, we had better hurry up or we'll miss the drop-off time."

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Gaara was positively smug. He looked across at his companions with a satisfied smirk. The suckers had to walk for days, only stopping to eat and sleep, while he floated leisurely on a bed on sand. And he wouldn't let them on it.

What a little traitor.

"Are we there yet?" Naruto whined, _again._

"No." Itachi replied stiffly.

"…how much longer?" the blonde complained.

"We should be in the Kumo Ninjas' path in a few more hours. We will have time to prepare and go over the plan once again." The elder Uchiha monotoned, but they all picked up the hint of a warning overlapping.

Naruto sighed in frustration. He wanted some action already! Itachi and Haku always got all of the fun.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, they arrived. They hastily set up traps and revised the plan.

'Ok, listen up. Your opponents most probably have low-Genin skills and experience. From what I have seen during training, Haku is already low to mid-chunin level. Gaara, Otouto and Naruto are closer to high-Genin, an impressive feat for ones so young, and you Kimimaro are mostly unknown, but I would rank you as high-Genin/low-Chunin as well. However, battle situations vastly differ from spars among friends. Be on your guard, all of you." Itachi ordered, slipping into his Captain mode. These kids needed experience, and fast, who knows if and when Orochimaru might come into their lives, now that their little group was on his radar.

"Hai Itachi-nii." Haku bowed her head softly in understanding.

"Fine…" Naruto grumbled.

"Ok Aniki, I promise." Sasuke told his brother reassuringly.

"Hai." Gaara nodded stoically.

"I swear Itachi-san." Kimimaro bowed low. Naruto gave him a funny look.

"You're still calling him '-san'? Come ON Kimimaro, you know don't have to."

"At least it isn't Itachi-sama anymore…" Sasuke muttered. Itachi couldn't help but agree. That was a strange experience.

"I apologise…Itachi." Kimimaro said insecurely. Haku gave him a pointed _look_.

"…Itachi-nii." He amended, earning nods of approval and a thumbs-up from Naruto. Kimimaro sighed in contentment. How was it possible for his life to have changed so much in such a short time? He still was not fully used to the sunlight…

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_Kimimaro sat with his arms crossed in front of his legs, leaning against a rock wall. He stared blankly at the ground, not really seeing it anymore. Darkness shrouded him within his cage, keeping him company. The small enclosure he had lived in for as long as he could remember was tiny, only 4 feet wide and 10 feet in length, along the wall. He pulled another bone from his shoulder blade, forming a sharp blade. He knew that if he tried, he could probably escape his prison. But where would he go?_

_This place was all Kimimaro had ever known, and he was too scared of the unknown to even really consider leaving. He flipped the bone in his hand and went back to carving a haunting face into the rock, so he wouldn't be so alone. The boy briefly lost his grip on the pointy white knife, and it slipped, slicing his arm as it fell._

_Kimimaro touched the warm blood leaking from his arm, wincing at the pain. He frowned. _Why am I the only one to live like this? Why me? It isn't fair! Is it this…eternally damned blood? _His brow wavered and his lips trembled._ _He brought his injured arm to his chest and slumped in defeat. How he despised himself. Even amongst his own clan he was feared for his blood…what evil, disgusting blood it must be. No, Kimimaro didn't want it anymore, he had to get rid of it! _

_The sickly pale boy reached frantically in the darkness for his bone dagger, and held it above his skin, momentarily frozen. His hand shook and he began to lower the blade slowly. He couldn't do it._

_He was such a coward._

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Hatake Kakashi had become a lot quieter of late. His comrades gave him concerned looks and asked if anything was wrong, but even his eye-smiles were painfully fake. He had resigned from the ANBU seemingly without warning, and had begun spending even more time at the memorial stone. It wasn't healthy. The guys took him out for drinks, and Sarutobi Asuma, the Sandaime's second son, was often charged with delivering the wasted Jounin back to his apartment. Maito Gai took hours off from his own training time in order to seek his rival out and challenge him, only to be turned down every time.

Only the Hokage knew the cause of the Copy-nin's depression. Not only was his future student –as was decided immediately by the Council-, Uchiha Sasuke missing without a trace, his Sensei's son was gone as well. Kakashi knew he should have been there for the boy more, or maybe the right words were been there _at all_. But Naruto looked and acted so much like Minato-sensei he could not stand it. It hurt too much. In ANBU, from the shadows he had watched the boy grow up. The Uzumaki's life had been hard and lonely, but Kakashi had consoled himself by saying that he would request for Naruto to be on his future Genin team, and then the boy would never have to be alone.

He hadn't even realised the consequences of his decisions. By leaving a mere child in such…hopeless isolation, was it really a surprise he was gone? Maybe he had run away from the hatred. Maybe he had been kidnapped because there was nobody there to protect him. Or maybe he had already died…no, Kakashi refused to consider that. The blonde had too much spirit to disappear from the world, even if he had disappeared from Konoha.

It's not like many people missed him anyway.

The Uchiha on the other hand, even now had candles burning in the town square. People sniffled and cursed the Demon for taking their prince. Rumours spread like wildfire and became increasingly ludicrous as time went on. Just the other day, Kakashi had overheard some gossiping old ladies talking about how "the damn fox stole the last Uchiha to use as a sex slave and produce Sharingan-Demon spawn, creating an army that would invade Konoha."

Firstly, they were CHILDREN. Secondly, they were both GUYS, how the hell is this army made exactly? Did one of them miraculously drop their male anatomy and sprout a uterus? Honestly. And that isn't even getting into the whole NARUTO IS NOT A DEMON thing.

Kakashi sighed in irritation; he was so distracted he couldn't even concentrate on his precious Icha Icha! He snapped the book shut and **Shunshin**ed to the roof of the Hokage Tower. He needed to speak with the Sandaime.

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The Sandaime Hokage looked at the three newly minted Chunin in front of him. Hagane Kotetsu, Kamizuki Izumo and Umino Iruka stood patiently along the wall. He had planned on giving them a B-class mission, but their Jounin Captain had sent a message explaining that his wife had gone into labour and he could not leave her side. As Sarutobi Hiruzen, he was happy for the man, but as Hokage, he rubbed his face in frustration. All the other Chunin teams were already out on missions and there was NO WAY he would send a Genin team. However the mission was not nearly high enough to require a squad of Jounin!

This was the moment Kakashi chose to appear at the window, lazily taking in his surroundings.

"Ahh Kakashi! What a pleasant surprise…I have a mission for you." The Sandaime said with a grin.

"Good day Hokage-sama, but if I could have a word-" the silver haired man began.

"This Chunin squad is in need of a Captain, and you're perfect for the job!" The three Chunin had wide eyes, they were getting a mission with the legendary Copy-nin! Sharingan no Kakashi! Their Captain should knock up his wife more often.

"But Hokage-sama, if I could just-" Kakashi tried, without success.

"This is your mission, I am sure it will go off without a hitch. Dismissed!" the Sandaime waveed them away.

Kakashi sighed. Might as well it this over with as soon as possible, so he could finally get some answers. He met the team outside of the Hokage's office, opened the mission scroll and scanned the contents.

Apparently an extremely valuable Ruby was stolen from a minor Daimyo by a team of Kumo Ninja, ranks unknown. Konoha was given the mission to return the jewel to the Daimyo, by any means necessary. Thankfully Konoha did not have an alliance with Kumogakure, or conflict would break treaty. He closed the scroll and turned to the anticipating Chunin.

"Meet at the village gates at daybreak tomorrow." He told them cheerfully.

"Hai!" they chorused.

The Sandaime pulled his pipe up to his mouth._ I'm sorry Kakashi…even when you ask, there is nothing I can tell you._

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"Ojiji-san!" a high voice squealed happily. He turned and knelt down beside his granddaughter, ruffling her short brown hair.

"Hey Aiko-chan! How is my special girl today? Where's your Kaa-chan?" he asked the three year old.

"I good!" she smiled, "Okaa-san is wif Obaa-chan! Dey tawkin." The girl informed her grandfather. He straightened up and watched his daughter's youngest child of three skip towards the kitchen. They weren't poor exactly, but they were not wealthy either. At least, not since his great grandfather had lost the family's greatest heirloom in a bet. His gambling had not only cost him the precious Ruby, but also the social security of his family, and ultimately even his own wife had left him. But soon, soon when the Ruby was returned, everything would become as it always should have been. His granddaughter would never have to wear second-hand clothes, and he could spoil her as he wished he could.

Yes, he knew that hiring a Ninja not aligned with any village could be dangerous, but he was more concerned that a village would try to satisfy a Daimyo over a retired carpenter. And he had heard that this Uchiha Itachi fellow was very talented, although young. When he had contacted the Shinobi, he had been assured that the boy had others who would take the mission with him.

He would pay them when he had the jewel, and the Uchiha had seemed confident enough that he soon would. He ran a calloused hand through his greying hair and followed Akio-chan to the next room.

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"Where the heck is he!" a man cried, who had hair reminiscent of a dark palm tree.

"I don't know Kotetsu." Izumo replied in a bored voice.

"He should be here by now!" Kotetsu insisted.

"I know Kotetsu." His friend said in disinterest.

"It's unprofessional! I expected more!" the indignant man exclaimed.

"Hai." Izumo agreed blandly.

"Damn you Izumo. Iruka, aren't you annoyed?" Kotetsu demanded, turning to their other teammate.

"Well…I hear he is quite infamous for being late to everything…" the Chunin with a scarred nose added hesitantly.

"But it's been two and a half hours!" Kotetsu growled.

Iruka sighed. Just then, Kakashi arrived on the scene with a loud poof.

"THERE YOU ARE!" Kotetsu screamed, "Where the hell were you!" he demanded with a glare.

"Well, I was on my way here and I saw what looked like a flying child on the horizon. I went to check it out, but it was only a bird." He explained with an eye-smile. They all sweatdropped.

"Whatever, let's just go." Izumo said irritably, striding towards the gate. Kotetsu gave their 'Leader' a last look of disgust before following his long-time friend, Iruka right behind him.

"Coming Hatake?" Izumo called.

"Hai…" the silver haired Jounin sighed. _Well,_ he thought,_ let's get this done quickly._ He jumped to meet his temporary squad and pulled out Icha Icha.

_Naruto…Sasuke…what happened to you?_

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Itachi froze his movements and check again. Yes, the approaching chakra signatures remained the same, although they were still a great distance away. _Damn_, he groaned mentally,_ just what I needed._ Why the hell did Konoha Ninja's have to be in the area? And Hatake Kakashi at that…_I can't let them see Naruto and Sasuke!_ He realised.

"Sasuke, Naruto, come here." He ordered.

"Hai?" they asked curiously.

"Change of plans, you both cannot participate in the coming fight." He informed them, waiting for the eruption.

"WHAT!" they both yelled. "WHY?"

"Because Shinobi of Konoha are close. They would try and take you back if we encountered them." He reasoned with the boys. With no success.

"So what? We'll tell 'em we don't want to go back, they can't make us!" Naruto said with determination, holding his whiskered face high.

"They won't listen Naruto." Itachi pinched the bridge of his nose. " They will think that you are either lying or have been brainwashed. They probably will think you are at the least runaways, if not being held against your wills. I am sure both of you are wanted back in Konoha, Sasuke for being an Uchiha and you for being the Jinchuriki." He told the blonde.

"But, but-"

"No buts. Not to mention what they would do if they found out you were travelling with me…I am still a criminal and a traitor to them, and that is _not_ something your names should be associated with." Itachi stated firmly, only _just_ able to resist putting his hands on his hips.

"Aniki…what about Gaara? He _is_ the Kazekage's son…" Sasuke began, before trailing off.

"…Gaara is what?" the elder asked blankly. Sasuke blinked.

"The Kazek-"

"YOU KIDNAPPED THE KAZEKAGE'S SON AND I NEVER KNEW?" Itachi yelled, yes _yelled_. Oh dear Kami. He felt like an idiot now. The Jinchuriki of Suna…was the Kazekage's son…it made sense…but why, why him? Itachi could already feel his hair greying.

"It wasn't kidnap! More like a rescue! Besides, they think he's dead, 'cause his Tou-teme sent him to be killed." Naruto tried to reassure the almost hyperventilating thirteen year old. Sasuke sighed, there was once a time that seeing Itachi like this would have meant the end of the world…now, not so much. Itachi took a deep breath and regained his composure.

"…Well Gaara can't go either then! If his description is put out it'll be very bad. The last thing we need is Suna after us." he decided.

"What if they recognize Haku-nee's and Kimimaro's Kekkei Genkais?" Naruto asked, a little anxious for their safety now.

"It is possible, but they would not know who they are, only what they look like. Besides, if everything goes to plan we will avoid them completely. The odds of our missions overlapping is very scarce."

"But we still can't do it." Naruto pouted.

"Hai."

"…Itachi-nii you're even more of a teme than Sasuke, you know that?" Naruto commented in an offhanded fashion.

Sasuke gave the blonde an emotionless look. "Who do you think I learned it from Dobe?" he asked rhetorically.

Itachi glared. "Otouto." He warned.

"Aniki." The younger replied.

Itachi snorted. "Hn."

Sasuke looked away. "Hn."

Naruto was looking back and forth between them. "…I'll never understand Uchihas." He said more to himself than anyone else, but still received to nearly identical 'stares of death'. He whimpered a little.

"Sorry…" the blonde muttered._ Just a bit sensitive…sheesh…_

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Tadoa of Kumo gave his students an exasperated glare.

Michio flung another Shuriken at his annoying teammate.

Joben gave his orange haired attacker a superior smirk as he dodged.

Mai spat profanities and threats at the two idiots.

Itachi motioned for their group to split up.

Sasuke nodded and fell back, veering to the right.

Naruto sighed in disappointment and followed the younger Uchiha.

Gaara pushed Shukaku out of his mind; he was not getting blood today. He went with Sasuke and Naruto, disappearing from sight.

Haku sped up to Itachi's right, sharing a glance.

Kimimaro came to the older Uchiha's left, his emotions locked away. He was ready to battle again. As much as he denied it, his Kaguya blood craved it.

Iruka laughed at Kotetsu's impression of Maito Gai. It was a bit mean, but far too funny.

Kotetsu flashed his teeth and stuck out a thumb while nearly popping out his hip and screaming "YOUTH!"

Izumo rolled his eyes at his childhood friend, wondering if he had changed at all from when they were kids.

Kakashi discreetly tucked away his book, as not to cause alarm.

They were there.

**Phew, wrote it all in limited time! The Ninja from Kumo are OCs, just in case anybody wasn't sure…next chapter, confronting Konoha…what will happen?**

**-TITM**


	11. Chapter Ten

**Disclaimer: Do I own Naruto? No. I traded him for Minato and Itachi. What an awesome deal, the kid never knew what hit him. MWAH HA HA.**

**Another chapter is here, I wonder what will happen now? Will Konoha's Ninjas interfere with the mission? If so, what will their reaction to Itachi be? Will Kakashi ever find out what happened to Naruto and Sasuke? And what about the Kumo team? Will I ever stop asking pointless questions? Enjoy.**

"This is so boring!" Naruto cried in frustration, throwing his hands up in the air.

"We have no choice Dobe." Sasuke growled, clearly annoyed with the situation himself.

"Shut up Teme, I know that. But it still sucks! Right Gaara?"

Gaara sighed. "We can still watch from a distance…if we're sneaky…"

"Oh no, no way, not gonna happen!" Sasuke exclaimed.

"What!" Naruto yelped. "Why not?"

"If Itachi finds out-"

"So we don't get caught!"

"Still-"

Naruto opened his mouth to argue the point, but was beaten to it.

"Never took you for a coward Uchiha…" Gaara said innocently, knowing which words would provoke him. The red head really did want to see what was going to happen with the fights.

Sasuke growled. "Fine! But if we get in trouble I'm blaming YOU! You two can get the Mangekyo _alone_." He huffed.

"Yeah, yeah." Naruto dismissed him, waving his hand casually.

They masked their chakra the way Itachi had taught them, and crept towards the battle.

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Tadao stopped where he was, signalling his team to wait.

"Oh, what now?" Michio rolled his eyes, readjusting his backpack.

"Shh!" Mai hissed furiously. Joben stood where he was, raising an eyebrow at the sudden delay.

"Tadao-sensei?" he questioned.

"…We are not alone…be on your guard, all of you. We are being watched…"

Mai stiffened and her eyes flashed in all directions, searching for any hint of an enemy. Michio dropped the attitude instantly and his hand moved to his weapons pouch. Joben waited silently for Tadao-sensei's instructions.

"We know you are there. Come out immediately." Tadao ordered loudly. In a flash three people landed in front of them.

"Ha!" Michio snickered, "they're just some brats Tadao-sensei."

Joben gave his teammate a bland look. "The oldest looks our age Michio. And I bet one of those kids could beat the shit out of you easily."

"Wha-"

"Shut up!" Mai spat. "They are obviously Shinobi. Don't make foolish assumptions."

The three silent Ninjas tuned out their conversation, choosing to focus on the tense Sensei.

"State your business here foreign Nin." Tadao demanded. Itachi lifted his gaze and yet the man's eye with his Sharingan.

_What…isn't that-_

"We are here to complete a mission. Hand over the gem and your team will live. Refuse, and you will be slaughtered." The dark boy monotoned.

"Never!" the Kumo Jounin growled. "What lesson would that teach my students, to run away at confrontation?" Tadao asked the red eyed one, who raised an eyebrow.

"…How to survive."

The Genin had stopped arguing and were now listening to the exchange in confusion. Why hadn't they just taken care of these guys already? Surely three Genin and one Jounin could defeat one kid their age –probably a Genin as well- and two Academy age children.

Itachi turned his head slightly. "Haku, you take the girl. Kimimaro, test your abilities on the boys. If Haku finishes early she will assist you."

The Jounin laughed hollowly. "And I suppose you will be fighting me? Judging from your Doujutsu, you are from the Uchiha clan of Konohagakure! And I had heard that they were wiped out…but it seems whoever was responsible missed one. Too bad he didn't finish the job."

"I'm not into suicide." Itachi smirked.

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Haku walked emotionlessly in the direction of the lilac haired girl, who growled at her. Mai pulled out her Sai and snarled.

"Bring it bitch."

Haku didn't reply. Kimimaro kept heading towards the bristling boys. Mai turned back briefly and her eyes flickered when she met gazes with her teammates, before forcing it into a mocking stare.

"Don't bring shame upon our home idiots, or I'll beat you up myself after this is over." She warned.

Joben snorted. "Whatever Mai. I'm the one stuck working with this fool." He pointed his thumb at an irritated Michio.

"Watch it Joben. Kick the brat's ass and I may just give you your self-respect back Mai." He remarked.

"Why, have you been borrowing it?" she snickered before jumping away, followed closely by Haku.

Michio scowled at the now vacant space. "Bitch."_ You had better not die…_

Kimimaro, who had remained silent during the bickering, spoke up emotionlessly. "Shall we begin then?"

Joben sneered. "Get ready to die over-confident brat. It's time you learnt what _real_ Ninjas can do."

Kimimaro raised an eyebrow.

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"Kakashi? Why have we stopped?" Iruka asked in confusion. It was then he noticed the Jounin was –for once- without his perverted novel. Kakashi looked at his team seriously.

"There is a battle up ahead."

Izumo yawned. "So we avoid it, or check it out?" he inquired.

Kakashi said nothing._ That chakra…I swear I've felt it before…but where, who?_

"I say we check it out." Kotetsu shrugged. "It could be relevant. Besides, I'm _so_ bored."

Kakashi considered for a moment before nodding and his squad headed towards the fight, keeping their presence as hidden as possible.

_Why do I feel this stifling sense of foreboding?_

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"What are you waiting for? Let's do this." Mai said confidently, twirling her Sai with considerable skill.

"Hai…" Haku murmured. She held out her right hand and a blade of ice began to form.

"W-what the hell?" Mai stuttered with wide eyes.

"This is my Kekkei Genkai, I am able to create and control the ice. I am sorry that we must fight, but I will not let my precious people down." Haku told her with determination.

"So what if you have a Kekkei Genkai you ugly freak! You're still going to die!" Mai roared and lunged at the younger girl. Haku stepped backwards quickly to avoid the blow and retaliated by parrying with her ice blade, meeting each of Mai's strikes with a solid defence and waiting for openings to attack. They were relatively matched, but where Mai had rage behind her moves, Haku had a calm resolve. A few minutes in Haku got her opportunity and slashed upwards, cutting the Kumo Kunouchi's upper arm deeply. Mai gasped and held the wound with her free hand, keeping her Sai steady with her wounded arm.

"You'll pay for that!" she snapped. She might actually have to use what her parents had given her already…

"And here I was hoping for a decent fight. The lack of a challenge you pose is actually pretty depressing." Haku sighed. "I'll let you live just a little longer. Finishing it so soon wouldn't be worth the fight."

"Bitch!" Mai screamed and she formed a familiar series of hand signs.

"**Kuchiyose no Jutsu**!" she yelled, using the blood from her injury to summon. A dark brown hawk emerged from the smoke, its head reaching Mai's shoulder.

"**You have called, Mai-sama?**" the bird asked, staring at Haku. "**This child is too much for you to handle?**"

"Shut up, you stupid bird! I am your commander, you have no right to question my orders!" she hissed, forgetting that _technically_ she hadn't given an order yet. The chocolate coloured animal's eyes narrowed at her.

"**Hai, I apologise Mistress…**"

"You treat your summons like that and you are destined for failure. I am at a loss as to how you even got a contract in the first place." Haku commented offhandedly. Mai was extremely offended. That contract had been in her family for four whole generations!

"What the hell would you know! Your just some wanna-be Ninja who happens to control frozen water. Well, let me tell you the difference between us, _I'm HOT!"_ she smirked. Haku face palmed. _Really? You choose now to boost your ego?_

"The relationship between a Summons and the Summoner should be a partnership, not a power play. To treat them like you are is a fool's move."

Mai growled. "Hawk, get her!" The bird raced forward at its Mistress's words and took to the sky. It then rapidly descended from above Haku, raising its talons and planning to tear the ice user apart.

Haku ducked and released her prototype ice shield in defence. She planned to develop the shields into a room of mirrors that could trap an opponent…it was a great idea, but it still needed a lot of work to create. Itachi-nii seemed to believe she could succeed though, so she refused to give up.

The Hawk's talons hit the ice with great force, leaving a frighteningly large crack above Haku's face.

It seemed this wouldn't be as easy as she had thought.

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…

…

…

"…Are you just going to stare at us or are you going to do something!" Joben snarled. His adrenaline was running high but it so far had nowhere to go.

"I was waiting for you to make the first move. Apparently you are not confident enough for that, a wise choice I must admit." Kimimaro mused. Michio became rigid.

"Hey, we could take you with our eyes closed brat! Don't be so cocky."

Kimimaro tilted his head in agreement. "Hai, that is good advice. I was just about to give it myself. So, who has the Ruby?"

"Ha, yeah right! Like we'd tell you! We aren't stupid. At least I'm not." Michio exclaimed, glancing pointedly at his teammate. Kimimaro nodded.

"I see, so you can on some level understand that you will be defeated…nevertheless, I will take it from your corpses."

Joben never dropped his confident expression, but he felt himself shake just a bit. This kid was creepy as hell. Michio scowled.

"What? No way will you beat me! I'll never let you get the Ruby brat!"

"Ahh, so it _is_ you who has it. Well then, let us begin shall we?" The white haired boy asked rhetorically. A long white bone grew out of his right shoulder and he pulled it out unblinkingly.

Joben and Michio looked at each other with wide eyes and low jaws.

_What. The. Fuck._

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"Tsk, you are becoming distracted Kumo-san. Worried about your team? You should be more concerned about your own welfare." Itachi smirked as he took yet another Katana to the gut, bursting into a flock of ravens.

"Come out and face me bastard!" Tadao yelled in frustration. A cold chuckle resonated from behind, and he whipped around angrily.

"My team will not be going down without a fight! They may not have the best teamwork, but they have promise and determination! They will not lose!" he stated with conviction. Itachi's smirk widened.

"You really believe that, don't you?"

Tadao glared. "I have faith in them."

"The funny thing about faith is that it is so easy to lose…and so difficult to regain." Itachi remarked.

Suddenly the sky bled a dark red and a crimson moon cast a nightmarish light over the expanse. Tadao realised with shock that he was now tied to a large wooden cross. He struggled but found he was unable to get free.

"What is this!" he shouted at the emotionless boy standing before him.

"You have been caught in a Genjutsu since you first made eye contact. This is the realm of **Tsukuyomi**. Here, I control reality, space and even time. For the next seventy-two hours you will watch your team being slaughtered, while being physically tortured and killed over and over again."

Tadao gulped fearfully. He put all his strength into attempting to dispel the Genjutsu, but it proved impossible.

He screamed as his flesh was stripped off, piece by piece, down to the bone. He wanted nothing more than to pass out from the pain, but was forced to endure it fully conscience.

He watched in pure horror as he saw Joben screaming for mercy before being impaled against the ground, his bright blood pooling. His eyes clouded with death.

Mai was next. She ran away as much as she could, but was stopped when the Uchiha formed out of ravens in front of her, and her throat was slit with a Kunai. She clutched her neck in shock and fell to her knees.

Michio threw anything he could get his hands on at his attacker, Shuriken, paper bombs, Senbon and Kunai, but Itachi effortlessly avoided them all. He stepped in close to the panting boy, wrapped a hand around his throat and begun to squeeze. The orange haired Genin's yellow eyes stared at his Sensei in panic, pleading for help.

But Tadao couldn't move.

Michio's eyes glazed agonizingly slowly, and his dry lips whispered his final words.

"Sensei…why? Why wouldn't you help us?...This is your fault."

Tadao was generally a proud man, but now he was sobbing shamelessly, the salty tears stinging his many wounds.

Itachi turned his face to the tortured man and spoke without inflection.

"You have now experienced one second of** Tsukuyomi**. Seventy-one hours, fifty-nine minutes and fifty-nine seconds to go."

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Haku's stamina was waning, and she didn't know how much longer her ice shield would last against the Hawk's attacks.

"Dammit." She hissed. "I will not die here. They are depending on me!" Haku closed her eyes, blocking out the crashing sounds of claws on ice and focused. She let her mind drift and be taken over by instinct, just as she had the night her parents had died.

Haku's eyes flashed open just as the shield gave way, crystallised splinters flying everywhere. She flung her arms towards the watching Kumo Kunouchi, and a barrage of thin ice needles spat towards her at high speed.

Mai's eyes widened and she went to jump away, but her reflexes weren't quick enough. She felt herself being stabbed all over and struggled to remain standing. She coughed up blood and tried to pull out some of the frozen Senbon, to no avail.

She cried out brokenly in pain, and looked up at hearing an echo. Haku lay on the ground, blood smeared across her torso from the talon lodged in her left shoulder. The Hawk dug its heel in deeper, curling its claws and tearing muscle.

Mai fell to the ground with a thud, but it didn't hurt. She was beginning to feel numbed, even her injuries had stopped feeling painful, although they were still bleeding heavily. She watched through lidded eyes as her Hawk lifted its claw to deal the final strike to her opponent. She smiled.

She had proven that she would win, just like she told Michio and Joben. She would go and find them soon, and maybe brag a bit…but first, she just needed to close her eyes…

Just for a little while…

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"HAKU!" Naruto yelped as he watched their Nee-chan go down under the bird's foot.

Sasuke silently stood and dashed out of their hiding place. Garra sighed, knowing that they were doing the wrong thing. But they had to help her, regardless of the risk. Naruto gripped the red head's arm and they raced after Sasuke.

Thank Kami there was no sign of any Konoha Ninjas.

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Joben gulped in fear as he watch Kimimaro yank a sword-like bone from his shoulder blade. He noticed Michio's eyes were three times their normal size.

"Y-you freak!" Michio yelled. Kimimaro tilted his head.

"Perhaps."

Michio's hand twitched to his pouch, and he pulled out half a dozen small grey balls.

"Take this!" he shouted, throwing the spheres. Kimimaro avoided them fairly easily, not really seeing the point of the seemingly useless weapons. Just as they hit the ground, they cracked open and a sickly yellow smoke began pouring from balls. Michio smirked.

"My clan specialises in poisons. They range from killing instantly, to performance altering, or slow and painful suffering with eventual death!"

Joben quickly unsealed a gasmask and glared at his teammate.

"You could have warned me! I could have died baka!" He snarled from behind the mask.

Michio ignored him. Because the Yoshida clan had created the poison, he was immune. The children in the clan were subjected to minute amounts as they grew, so it would now have no effect on him.

Kimimaro coughed as he inhaled a small amount of the substance, before he tied a strip of his shirt that he had ripped off around his mouth.

_Damn_, he thought,_ I let my guard down…not anymore._ He charged towards the two older boys while pulling a second bone from his shoulder. He was now wielding two blades gracefully, allowing his warrior's blood to control his movements. There was no thought behind the strikes, but it formed a smooth dance. The Kumo Genin were panting as they avoided the blows, using their Kunai to block the bones. They tried to strike back, but hit bone armour every time.

Kimimaro fought fluidly. Two Genin were nothing when compared to the Kaguya battle. Michio grabbed out what looked like normal Ninja wire, and whipped it at the oncoming bone sword. The bone hissed as the acidic wire burned through it cleanly. Kimimaro frowned._ What an inconvenient poison…_He increased the density of the bones, so it would now take significantly longer to burn through. The yellow mist was still casting a light cloud in the air around them.

Finally, Kimimaro's blade hit flesh, bone meeting bone. A pained shout rang out.

"Ahh!"

"Michio!" Joben yelled. Kimimaro remained emotionless. His bone blade had sunk deep into the orange haired Nin's chest, puncturing the right lung and the tip was pointing out of the back. Michio looked down in shock.

"Wha…what-" he gasped, and Kimimaro slid the sword out smoothly. Michio crumpled to the ground, and became still.

"You bastard!" Joben screamed. "I'm going to kill you!" He leapt forward and began attacking Kimimaro with Taijutsu. He aimed for the body's weak spots with pointed hands.

A few years ago, when Kumogakure attempted to gain the Byakugan of the Hyuuga clan from Konoha, the Raikage had decided that his Shinobi should be trained in the way of the Hyuuga Taijutsu, the Juuken. Unfortunately they had been unable to capture the Hyuuga heir, so their style remained incomplete. A couple of Kumo Nin had taken it upon themselves to reinvent the Juuken, and Joben's father was one of these Nins.

Joben had been learning the altered Juuken for years now, and his father was very proud of his progress. This evolved Juuken style relied not on the Tenketsu points, as the Hyuuga's did, but rather on the nerve clusters of the body. Without the Doujutsu it would be near impossible to hit all of the chakra points, while with enough study, the nervous system could be targeted. With appropriate pressure, Joben could cause extreme pain or even paralyze an opponent, without overly exerting himself.

"You will die for what you have done…" he growled.

Kimimaro didn't reply.

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"Kakashi…" Izumo whispered in shock. Kakashi nodded grimly.

Standing in front of them was none other than Uchiha Itachi, Sharingan spinning. He was facing a Kumo man, a Jounin judging by his attire. The man was pale and shaking, obviously being influenced by intense Genjutsu. The Kumo Shinobi suddenly fell to the ground, lying still like a cripple. His eyes were wide and unblinking. There was no sanity in his gaze, only the fear of a stunned animal. He had lost his mind.

Itachi flicked his eyes to the Konoha squad, who glared back ferociously.

"Uchiha Itachi…" Kakashi said in a deceptively casual tone, revealing his own Sharingan. Itachi smirked.

"Inu…"

"You are hereby arrested for crimes against your former village of Konoha. Do not resist." The silver haired man said officially, following the procedure even though he knew the Uchiha would not come quietly.

"Hatake," Itachi said condescendingly, "We both know your little Chunin team can't even put up a fight."

Kotetsu growled and Izumo held him back, shaking his head. Iruka grimaced, knowing it was probably true.

"As a fellow former ANBU Captain, you should know that I won't be defeated so easily Uchiha." Kakashi glared. Itachi met his gaze unflinchingly.

"Ah, but Kakashi-san. You already have been," His former comrades glanced at each other in confusion. "The moment you met my eyes."

Izumo cursed. _Genjutsu…dammit. We are so dead._

Iruka winced. In the unlikely event that they survived this, he was retiring from active duty. He wanted a less stressful job, maybe an Academy Sensei like his former Genin teammate Shin used to be.

Kotetsu was deadpanned._ Well shit._

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Sasuke tackled the large Hawk to the ground, and Naruto helped him hold it down while Gaara pulled Haku out of harm's way. At some point the girl had fallen unconscious, most likely due to the pain. Gaara wrapped his sand around her wound and held it firmly, slowing the blood flow. The hard packed sand would have to be enough until they were somewhere safer. The Hawk stopped fighting against them, realising his Mistress was no longer fighting.

Naruto got off the bird and walked hesitantly over to the Kumo girl, while Sasuke kept a wary eye on the Hawk. Naruto pressed his hand against Mai's neck, feeling for a pulse.

"…She's dead…"

They looked down at the injured ice user.

_Haku-nee…please be ok._ The three boys thought in union.

**While writing this chapter my cat decided to walk on the keyboard, messing something up with the sentence layout so that after a certain point they started in the middle of the page. I tried all the usual things but it still wouldn't be fixed. So, cursing the cat, I copied and pasted what was still ok and rewrote the rest because pasting the messed up part made it stay that way…so sorry for the slightly later update.**

**-TITM**


	12. Chapter Eleven

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto…no really, I'm serious.**

**SORRY! All my stories were updated late because I had a friend staying for a while, so less writing time! Please forgive me!**

Kimimaro dodged another chakra coated hand, bending down and spinning his legs out to catch his opponent off guard. Joben jumped away at the last minute, panting heavily. The kumo Genin had never fought so hard in his life, but he was sure as hell not going to stop now. He charged back into the yellow tinged mist, attacking Kimimaro with a flurry of improvised Juuken strikes. He drew back to catch his breath, growling when it became clear that his attacks had no effect.

_Dammit! How the hell am I supposed to defeat this guy? His armour is too strong!_ Joben had his hands on his knees, struggling against the exhaustion._ Think, think! How can I hurt this guy…Michio's poison! If I can just get that cloth off his mouth, it'll eventually kill him! I'll just have to stall him until it takes effect…_

Smirking, Joben rushed at Kimimaro once again. The young Kaguya brought up his bone swords, slashing at the older boy. Despite the pain, Joben didn't stop. He reached up towards Kimimaro's face, causing the white haired boy to hastily harden his bone armour, centred around his skull. But instead of striking as expected, Joben ripped away his make-shift mask. Kimimaro's eyes widened in shock, how had he been so careless! He swept his dagger upwards, catching the thick band of Joben's mask, slashing it. The black gas mask fell to the ground with a thud, and Joben started to panic._ No! Dammit!_ He internally cried in frustration._ …I'll have to finish this quickly!_

Kimimaro coughed harshly as he inhaled the infectious gas, gritting his teeth against the burning pain. Joben was also wheezing and clutching his throat as the poison invaded his lungs. He gripped a Kunai hard, staggering forward.

"_Even if I die here…"_he hissed,_ "…you will be coming with me!"_ Joben tackled the weakened Kimimaro to the ground, stabbing him with the Kunai with as much force as his body could muster. He knew if they stayed in the gas any longer they would both die, but that was ok now. He had avenged his teammate, and done the best he could. In the end he had won…a proud smile graced the young Ninja's face. His opponent was already unconscious.

_I hope I made you proud…Tou-san…_

And the world faded away.

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Haku's eyes fluttered as she slept restlessly. She occasionally tried to move, but ended up crying out in pain each time. The Hawk had really torn her shoulder up badly. Naruto sat by her while Gaara disposed of the Kumo girl's boy and Sasuke was out getting more water to clean Haku's wound.

They had taken Haku into the cover of trees, near the battle site. Naruto swept the damp, warming cloth across her face gently, removing any dried blood, sweat and dirt from her fight. He looked up as Gaara walked over to them, his clothes showing no evidence of the body his sand had just crushed into oblivion.

"How do you think the others are doing?" Naruto asked quietly, as not to wake Haku. Before, the blonde had held no doubt what-so-ever in his adoptive families abilities, but now that Haku-nee had been hurt…

Gaara sensed his 'brother's distress and took action. "Itachi can take care of himself. And Kimimaro survived the elimination of his whole clan…I am confident that they will not lose to a single Kumo team." The red head said logically. But logic rarely had an effect on Naruto.

"But what if Konoha does come? What if-"

"Then they will be forced to fight them also. But there is no point in worrying unnecessarily, Naruto." Gaara sighed. "If the time comes, then the time comes."

Naruto looked away. "Yeah but…Konoha is where I was born Gaara…It was my home for almost my whole life. It feels wrong to think about fighting them…" he admitted.

Gaara looked at the blonde seriously. "How you feel doesn't matter. Not in a battle anyway. When it comes down to it, you fight to protect those you care for, correct?" he asked rhetorically, already knowing the answer.

"Of course I-"

Gaara interrupted. "Then what if a Ninja from your home village was holding a blade to Haku's throat? Or if Itachi was captured and scheduled for execution? He is a criminal to them after all."

Naruto's eyes widened fearfully. "T-that would never happen!"

"And if it did? Then, what would you do Uzumaki Naruto?" Gaara demanded. He knew he was being harsh, but the blonde needed to hear it how it was.

"I…I would save them! I will never let my precious people be hurt!"

Time to say it. "Even if it meant killing Konoha's Shinobi?"

"…" The blonde's mouth was gaping, opening and closing like a fish. Gaara's emerald eyes narrowed.

"Answer the question Naruto. How far would you go to protect the ones you hold dear?"

"…" Naruto still had a shell-shocked look on his face, clearly stunned and confused. His whiskered face was conflicted.

"Would you die for them? Kill for them? Take on the world for them? How far, Naruto?" The red head demanded.

"I-"

It was time for Naruto to see the real world, and not his peaceful fantasy. "Are you able to put aside your own desires and commit sins for the sake of those relying on you is the question."

"Y-yes! I will always protect you guys! I-I won't hesitate if it's for us! I'll never hesitate!" Naruto yelled. Gaara looked in his hardened blue eyes and felt satisfied.

"Do you swear this Naruto?"

"I swear it on Sasuke's life!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Dobe, what the hell are you swearing my life on? I'm a bit offended you know." Sasuke quipped as he strode back into the area holding two bags of water. Naruto yelped and spun around, pointing accusingly.

"S-Sasuke! Don't sneak up on us Teme!" the blonde growled.

"Not my fault a Baka and a Dobe can't even sense me approaching." He smirked as he bent down to pour some cool water onto Haku's wounds. Naruto twitched.

"Shut up bastard!"

Gaara rubbed his forehead, he felt a headache coming on, and this time it wasn't from Shukaku. "Sasuke, Naruto, please don't wake up Haku-nee. She needs her sleep to recover."

Both boys shrunk down in apology and whispered in union, "Sorry Gaara."

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Kakashi met the eyes of his frightened comrades, silently telling them not to let their fear show to the enemy. Izumo nodded tersely and flattened his mouth into a thin line. Kotetsu washed away his nerves with another wave of fury, standing in front of them was somebody who had betrayed their village! Iruka bit his lip but steadied his hands, his eyes gaining a new defiance as he glared at the smirking Uchiha.

"Well, well Hatake. It seems this batch isn't as cowardly as the last I came across." Although Itachi had kept it a secret from his younger companions, he had been located by Konoha's Shinobi multiple times during their travels. Some had been hunting him, others had simply happened upon him during missions. None that challenged him had survived, obviously. In any other situation, the rogue Uchiha would have simply wounded them gravely, perhaps scarring them with a Genjutsu. But now, he knew the ruthlessness was necessary to keep himself firmly under the radar, lest his little group be targeted as well. If he had allowed them to live, they could have found the kids, and that was _not_ going to happen anytime soon if the Uchiha had anything to say about it.

Kotetsu growled. "You filthy rotten traitor! How many of your former comrades have you slain since you ran?"

"Ran? Oh no, I never _ran._ I simply left that weak village to pursue my own endeavours." Itachi smirked, infuriating the Konoha Nins further.

Izumo's composure cracked. "How dare you call us weak? It is only because of Konoha that you became as strong as you are, but that doesn't mean we can't beat you!"

Itachi chuckled coldly. "Konoha crafted a living weapon in the forges of supremacy, and then feared it when it did was it was created for." Itachi spoke dispassionately. "As for your earlier question of how many have died by my hand since that day?" he smirked evilly. "I've lost count."

That was of course, a blatant lie. Itachi knew exactly how many of his former village's Ninja he had been forced to slay. Thirty-four. Everything from Hunter-nins and ANBU to Genin, no one had been spared. Thankfully he had only encountered one Genin team over the time he had been a Missing-nin.

Kotetsu growled as savagely as any Inuzuka, and Iruka's face hardened with further determination to fight the criminal responsible for the deaths of so many. Kakashi kept his Sharingan trained on the prodigy, analysing and calculating every possible scenario.

But it wasn't looking good.

Every idea Kakashi played out in his mind all ended badly for the Konoha squad._ I can't die here!_ Kakashi told himself sternly._ I still need to find Sasuke and Naruto! For Obito…for Sensei! I cannot fail them, not again! _His Sharingan morphed slowly into it's rarely used Mangekyo state, causing Itachi's own to widen and automatically activate Mangekyo as well.

_I will not be defeated here today! _Kakashi swore.

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Itachi prepared his next attack, aimed at the illusive copy Ninja. Iruka had long since been knocked unconscious, and Izumo was currently trying desperately to stop Kotetsu from bleeding out due to a stab wound in the gut. Kakashi was breathing hard, not bothering to wipe the hot sweat off his face despite the sting it gave his open injuries. Itachi breathed in deep, ready to fire off a **Katon** jutsu, when he felt a nagging sensation on the edge of his senses. Tuning in, he whipped his head around to his left, inwardly cursing.

_Kimimaro…dammit!_

Kakashi took advantage of his enemy's distraction, knowing how rare it was to occur. He lunged at the younger male, his movements practically invisible to the naked eye. Such was the power of a Jounin. Itachi growled internally.

_Shit!_ Kimimaro's chakra was fading fast, and for the first time in years Itachi felt something akin to panic. His eyes bled, burning with unimaginable pain as he released **Amaterasu**.

The unstoppable black flames burst from his eye sockets, searing them in the process. The relatively new technique was basically untested and completely unrefined, as he had not yet risked training with it. The flames lit upon everything his gaze touched, forcing a stunned Kakashi to draw back.

The fire burnt through solid rock, reducing it to nothing but ash. An agonised scream filled the air, and Kakashi watched in wordless horror as the crippled Kumo Jounin was burnt alive. He retreated further, signalling for Kotetsu and Izumo to flee while he picked up the unconscious Iruka as a wall of flames separated him from his opponent.

"Until next time, Hatake." Itachi monotoned, before disappearing from view as the flames rose higher.

Itachi deactivated his Mangekyo and wiped the trails of blood off his face, before rushing in the direction of Kimimaro's dying chakra signature.

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Itachi leapt into the dispersing cloud of poisonous gas, holding the corner of his dark cloak over his mouth as an air filter. His Sharingan spun as he squinted, trying to distinguish which of the unconscious bodies was Kimimaro. He spotted a glimpse of white hair and scooped it up hurriedly. Itachi jumped out of the lethal smog and made a break for the tree line, keeping his hold on the unconscious boy.

He dropped to the ground, holding back a cough and channelled as much chakra as he could into his palms, placing them on the Kaguya's back. It was a standard procedure of Konoha's ANBU, for the scenario that a squad mate has inhaled some kind of toxin. His chakra sank deep into Kimimaro's chest, coating the abused lungs in a thick layer. Concentrating, Itachi forced his chakra up and out of the younger boy's lungs, and up into his throat, taking with it majority of the poison. The only drawback to the technique was that it could not repair the damage already done, as it was not a very advanced medical jutsu.

Kimimaro coughed violently, ejecting the discoloured mist from his throat in large, cloudy plumes. Itachi sat back against a tree, thoroughly exhausted. The Mangekyo took a lot out of him, and he had just expended a large quantity of his chakra into helping Kimimaro.

He noticed that slowly the Kaguya's breathing had begun to even out, becoming more stable, and Itachi let out a small sigh of relief. He vaguely wondered how Haku's fight had gone, and if the younger kids were ok, but the thought fled quickly from his tired mind. Itachi let his eyelids slip closed.

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Naruto looked up warily at the sound of approaching footsteps. He tentatively leaked his chakra in order to get a read of whoever was coming towards them. He couldn't risk letting too much escape, lest whoever it is decide to search for the source of the chakra, and with Haku in such a state they were open to attack.

To the blonde's immense relief, it was just Itachi. Naruto frowned when he picked up Kimimaro's signature, it was a lot weaker than usual. Was he injured as well? Dammit, he _told_ them he should have been able to fight! Instead, Sasuke, Gaara and himself were sitting on their butts while their family was getting hurt!

Never again.

No _way_ was he gonna just sit out next time, risks be damned! He was going to be the greatest Ninja ever, and to do that he would _have_ to take risks, despite what Itachi would say. Yes he was young, but that doesn't make him a child! He is a Shinobi now, and Shinobi don't leave their friends and family to fight alone.

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"What!" a sinister voice hissed in the darkness. "The Kaguya child, how bad are his wounds?"

"I am uncertain Orochimaru-sama, but it seemed as if Itachi-san ridded him of the remaining gas. What damage has been inflicted is yet to be determined." Kabuto recited what his contact had told him.

"I see…" Orochimaru said, soundly distantly displeased. "I do not wish for my Kaguya to be ruined Kabuto, perhaps you could evaluate the damage personally?"

"Of course my lord, however I must ask, how shall I get to the boy? Itachi rarely lets the young ones out of his sight, and I admit that I am no match for him in battle." Kabuto stated.

Orochimaru chuckled coldly. "A match for him in battle? Ku ku ku, my dear Kabuto, you will not be required to engage the Uchiha baby-sitter. The boy will come to us."

The young Medic-Nin blinked. "Come to us? But he seems loyal-"

"To the wrong people Kabuto…we shall make him see the light! Offer him power, revenge for his clan, medical help if need be. I shall have him!"

"…Hai Orochimaru-sama."

Orochimaru smirked. "Good. Now, before you begin this mission, I have other request of you…"

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The group sat in a stony silence. Haku was wrapped in a cocoon of blankets, staring blankly into the fire. She had woken up a few hours ago and was clenching her jaw in order to keep from crying out at the pain in her shoulder. Kimimaro had refused to be 'coddled' into a blanket and simply acted as he usually would, if not for the stray cough every now and then. Gaara had his eyes closed in thought. Sasuke was feeding the already flaming fire with his wristband, idly adjusting it every now and then. Naruto picked at a rock lodged into the hard surface of the ground, determined to unearth it. Eventually Itachi spoke up, breaking the lull of noise.

"We have underestimated our opponents…a rookie mistake. I can understand you five, but I should have known better. I apologise, I have put you all in danger with my foolishness, and I do not hope to be forgiven of that. However, we must learn from our mistakes to ensure that this never happens again. Are we clear?"

"Hey, I was all for helping out…" Naruto mumbled dejectedly. He was ignored.

Sasuke met his brother's eyes. "So what's next Aniki?"

Itachi chose his words carefully. "…I think we should take a break from missions for a while."

Naruto's face scrunched up in disgust. "We can't run away just because of one close call! That-"

Itachi interrupted him and spoke coldly. "It is not 'running away'. It is time to get more serious with your training, a minimum of 13 hours a day."

"Th-three hours? Are you insane!" Naruto balked.

"Yes…" Sasuke muttered. Itachi gave him a glare.

"I agree with Itachi-nii." Haku said suddenly. She met their curious faces with resolve. "I was over-confident in my skills and it nearly got me killed. We need to be stronger."

Gaara nodded slowly, having opened his eyes sometime during Itachi's 'speech', and reached up to touch his tattoo. "We could have lost two of us today, next time it could be more, and we might not be so lucky. I think it's a good idea."

Kimimaro remained silent, continuing to stare into the orange flames.

He could not feel what remained of the poison festering inside his chest, slowly infecting his lungs already. It was a much more gradual process now that the majority of poison had been removed, but it was not over yet. This is the reason why the Yoshida clan was so admired amongst Ninja specialising in poisons, and many villages wanted their skills for themselves. Suna especially had issued multiple attempts to convert the clan, to no avail.

The only question was how long until the problem crippled him entirely.

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Kabuto smirked as he raced through the forest under the cover of night. His glasses reflected the moonlight glaringly, obscuring his eyes from view. He had recently requested a C-rank mission for his team from the Sandaime, in order to put Orochimaru-sama's plans of entering the Chunin Exams into place. His so called 'Teammates' were currently in a deep, drug-induced slumber.

His lenses slipped down his nose, forcing Kabuto to push them further up. Orochimaru-sama had instructed him to monitor the group travelling with the Uchiha, but he _must_ remain undetected. If his presence were to suddenly show up on the radar, Kabuto had no doubt that Itachi would slaughter him mercilessly. But first, he had to complete his current assignment.

Kabuto arrived at an orphanage, cracking an unlocked window and slipping soundlessly into a deserted room. He bypassed multiple bedrooms full of sleeping children, before coming upon one room at the end. Its door was battered and abused, and the hinges were about to come off. It looked as if it had been slammed one too many times and then given up the fight. Inside this room was only one child, around twelve years old. But what surprised Kabuto was not the boy's youth, but rather his appearance.

His file had clearly said that this boy, Jirobo, was the older brother of young Juugo, the one whose DNA Orochimaru-sama had created the curse seal from. Orochimaru-sama believed that he would be able to perfect the curse seal if he got his hands on this boy, because his DNA would already be compatible, unlike that girl Anko's. While this boy certainly had the same orange hair that Juugo was known for, this boy appeared to have cut majority of his off with some kind of blade.

It was hardly a surprise that he had been isolated from the other children.

Jirobo was stockier than his younger brother, although some of that could be accounted to Juugo's occasional refusal of food, when his depression peaks. Kabuto analysed the snoring boy in front of him, contemplating his usefulness. When Kabuto reached out to rouse the boy, he was surprised to find himself suddenly locking gazes with orange eyes, identical to Juugo's. His hand was held in a painful vice-like grip. So, the boy was on guard. Interesting.

"Who are you?"

"…That is not your concern right now. Tell me boy, do you wish to have power? To be stronger?" Kabuto asked the boy emotionlessly.

Jirobo didn't answer. Kabuto took this as encouragement.

"My master can give you this…he is already helping your brother…Juugo, right?" he asked rhetorically.

Jirobo's eyes widened in shock, before narrowing threateningly. "Where is he! If you have hurt my brother-"

"Nonsense. I have already said we are _helping_ him, with his little…._problem_. I'm sure you know to what I am referring?"

Jirobo let go of Kabuto's wrist and lessened the glare, but held his gaze locked onto Kabuto's. "My brother is a good person…he never meant to hurt anyone."

Inwardly, Kabuto rolled his eyes. Outwardly, he plastered a smile on his face. "We know that. Now come Jirobo-kun, and you will see your precious brother again."

Jirobo was silent for a moment. He looked out of his small window and out at the moon above, before turning back to the patiently waiting Kabuto. "…Ok…take me to him."

Kabuto let the boy walk ahead towards the door, before quickly striking the pressure point that would make the boy drop like a rock. He smirked, Orochimaru-sama would be most pleased to receive his specimen.

All they needed to do was have Kabuto erase the boy's memory before he awoke, it was a simple jutsu really. A small amount of Chakra, directed to surround the part of the brain storing memories. A slight pulse later, and it would be shut down indefinitely.

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Jirobo was anxious to leave, he hated his damned place, and he needed to see his brother, right _now_! He still remembered the day almost a year ago when he had woken up to find Juugo gone without a trace…but considering what had happened the day before, it could hardly be considered a tremendous shock.

Flashback

_Jirobo ran through the dense forest, searching for his idiotic brother. Only Juugo would get himself lost like this! It was almost curfew, and the orphanage was very strict on latecomers. He ripped through low-hanging branches and looked in every direction rapidly._ Dammit Juugo!

_He turned on his heels and ran back in another direction, intent on finding his wayward brother. Eventually he was stopped by the sound of a chocking sob. Changing course, Jirobo found himself closing in on his brother's location as the sounds became louder. Finally, the younger brother came into view of the elder, who stopped abruptly at the scene._

_Lying on the forest floor was the mangled remains of a corpse, brutally ripped apart and almost completely obliterated. Tattered pieces of clothing were embedded in the bloody flesh and strewn across the immediate area. Juugo was curled up in a ball, slowly backing back and forth as he cried._

_Jirobo took a shaky breath and sighed, crouching by the trembling ten year old. He spoke calmly, keeping his voice free of any emotion other than concern._

"_It happened again?"_

"_J-Jirobo, I-I d-didn't m-mean to!" Juugo sobbed, with tears cascading down his face._

_Jirobo patted his brother on the back softly, reassuringly. "I know…It's ok, it' not your fault…"_

"_B-but I k-killed him! W-why me? W-why do p-people near me h-have to die? Why!" Juugo screamed, clutching fistfuls of his orange hair and pulling at it with stress._

_Jirobo stayed silent, letting his brother pour all his frustrations and fear out before speaking._

"_H-he was j-just a traveller. N-not even a Bandit l-like the o-others. I r-really am a m-murderer!"_

_Jirobo had had enough. "No. You're just a bit…sick, is all. But one day you'll be better, I promise, ok?"_

_Juugo nodded shakily. He trusted his brother. "O-ok Jirobo." He whispered, clenching his hands against his leg._

_Jirobo helped his blood-covered brother to his feet and took him down to the stream to wash, before racing back to the orphanage just in time to make curfew._

_In the morning, Juugo was gone._

End Flashback.

Jirobo had hardened himself since his brother's disappearance, even going to far as to shave most of his hair off with a razor blade. He had beefed up quite a bit as well, prepared to take on the world to save his brother. With a determined resolve, Jirobo made his way ahead of Kabuto, before feeling a hard chop near his neck. His vision darkened and he felt himself fall to the ground.

_Juugo…_

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Kabuto straightened up, wiping a drop of sweat from his brow. "The procedure was a success Orochimaru-sama."

"Of course Kabuto, I expected no less from you." Orochimaru said with thinly veiled amusement.

"Thank you Orochimaru-sama." Kabuto bowed.

"I simply cannot wait to try my experiment, this will surely be the breakthrough I have searched for Kabuto!" The snake-man's yellow eyes gleamed with anticipation.

"Hai, my lord. The odds of success are indeed in our favour." The grey haired teen smirked, while running a diagnostic jutsu over the unconscious boy on the slab, a standard procedure after a medical Ninjutsu. Suddenly, Kabuto froze his glowing green hand over Jirobo's head.

"Kabuto? What is wrong?" Orochimaru hissed. Kabuto met his master's eyes fearfully.

"It seems that my chakra pulse did as it was intended to, of course, but there is an unforseen side effect."

"Side effect?" Orochimaru inquired, deadly calm. Kabuto felt his heartbeat quicken as he rushed to explain.

"Hai, the pulse I sent in can be described as almost a miniature earthquake in the area of the brain. I had it perfectly controlled as not to damage any other areas, but it seems that mush like a true earthquake, a small after-shock has occurred."

"What does this mean? My experiment-" Orochimaru began to warn, only to quickly be reassured.

"It won't be compromised my lord. The after-shock seems to have only affected his mind in terms of accessible intelligence…from now on he will be mostly brawn without brains."

Orochimaru nodded in understanding. "A shame, he was such an intelligent boy from what I had gathered…but perhaps it is for the best."

Kabuto let out a great sigh of relief. "I agree my lord."

"Kabuto, it is time for you to get back to your main mission. Do not let yourself lose them, I need as much information as possible on that little group. Understood?" Orochimaru asked in such a way that it was not truly a question.

The grey haired boy bowed deeply. "Hai Orochimaru-sama."

**I finally did it…..it took longer than I had wanted! A bit of a side-story going on there with Jirobo and Juugo, but the muse demands what the muse demands.**

**-TITM**


	13. Chapter Twelve

**Disclaimer: You really should know by now.**

**Ok here it is! I have nothing really to say here, so on with the chapter!**

**WARNING: Attempted-rape scene.**

"Again." Itachi's voice was unforgiving as he watched Sasuke gasp. Sweat trickled down the younger's face, which was bright red from exertion.

It was a week and a half since the mission that went wrong, and the training was brutal. Itachi had gotten the Ruby off the orange haired Genin's corpse and then met up with the client. Despite the payment they received, it hadn't seemed really worth the danger they had been in. But they were never ones to give up easily. Sasuke puffed and gave his brother a pitiful look.

"But Aniki-"

"Do not argue Otouto. We are not leaving until you have mastered the jutsu." Itachi told his pouting brother firmly.

"But the others are waiting and-"

Itachi let an eyebrow rise high up his forehead. "You begged me constantly for training in the past and now you beg to stop? Foolish boy…" he mused, flicking his Otouto's forehead.

Sasuke let out an indignant cry. "Hey!"

The younger Uchiha was doubled over, trying to catch his breath. Itachi was a slave-driver of a Sensei! He had been insisting for the past week that Sasuke perfect the **Katon: Hosenka no Jutsu (Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu)**, and no matter how close he got, it was never quite enough.

"You need to let the flames build up more before releasing them." Itachi advised lightly. Sasuke scowled.

"But that burns!"

The elder of the two resisted the urge to roll his eyes at the younger's whining. "And you will become accustomed to it. It is a second nature for Uchihas, I hardly feel the heat anymore."

Sasuke huffed immaturely. "Fine."

Itachi watched his brother with thinly veiled amusement. "Don't pout. It's unbecoming."

Sasuke glared at the ground and muttered. "At least I'm not some sissy drawer…" he didn't really have anything against his brother's old hobby, but in truth he had very little he could use against the 'Perfect Itachi'.

"What was that Otouto?" Itachi called out in a warning tone. So what if he liked drawing occasionally!

Sasuke let out a high pitched _eep!_ He had heard him! "N-nothing Aniki!" he held up his hands in an instinctive show of surrender. Itachi glared.

"Hn."

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Gaara winced as Shukaku once again went into a rampage on the edge of his consciousness. The demon was demanding blood and slaughter, something with the red head simply refused to supply. The impudence!

Gaara let his eyes drift shut briefly, simply seeking some relief from the constant burning that came with the lack of sleep. His body _craved_ sleep, but his mind knew better than to allow it. It was days like these the Gaara felt a strong twinge of envy for Naruto. The blonde suffered close to no side effects of containing his demon, while Gaara was forever cursed the way he was.

It wasn't fair.

Now, if he had let himself wallow in these thoughts, he would no doubt end up resenting his blonde 'brother', and above all else Gaara didn't want that. Naruto and Sasuke had been the first people to ever accept him, demon and all, and there was no way he was going to let something as petty as jealously ruin that bond.

Naruto, Sasuke, Itachi, Haku and Kimimaro were his family now, and family was something that Gaara had learnt never to take for granted.

"Hey Gaara!" Naruto called happily as he bounded over to where the red head was sitting on a tree stump. Gaara wearily opened his closed lids.

"Hai?"

"It's Itachi-nii's birthday really soon so I was wondering if you had any ideas of what we should get him!"_ I need ideas!_ Naruto thought.

"…I plan on giving him a new cloak. His old one was singed in the fight with the Konoha Nins." Gaara told the blonde. The cloak was already ordered and in the process of being made down at a shop in town. Naruto grinned, secretly cursing himself for not thinking of that first.

"Awesome! I know Sasuke is getting him another sketchbook-thing, because he left his old one in Konoha, and Haku-neechan is being all secretive about hers! Kimimaro still doesn't know either."

"Perhaps something practical, if you are unable to find something personal." Gaara advised.

"Hmm…but I want it to be _really_ cool!" Naruto explained excitedly. Gaara smiled despite himself. His 'brother' was just so hyperactive.

"I am sure that he will appreciate the sentiment either way."

Naruto let out a '_hmph_'. "You're no help at all. HAKU!" he called as he jumped up and ran in the direction of the nearby stream, where Haku was practicing water walking. A loud _SPLASH!_ was heard, followed by a distinctly feminine scream of outrage. Gaara sighed.

There truly was never a dull moment.

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Kimimaro let out a silent sigh as he was dragged through the bustling market. Naruto had convinced him that they simply_ must_ find something for Itachi right that very moment, since Gaara and Haku proved no to be of use. Naruto stopped at every second stall, quickly forgetting the objection when distracted by the merchandise. They eventually made their way past the crowed section and onto the quieter streets. Kimimaro came to a halt outside of a small weaponry store. It was squeezed in between two larger buildings, and had a faded sign reading _'Kimura's Weaponry' _ scrawled in white paint. It was clearly a privately-owned establishment, as opposed to the larger and more exclusive stores they had come across in other villages.

This village was small, almost indistinguishable on a map. It did, however, have a steady flow of Shinobi passing through on the way to their destinations, and some indeed may have to fix or acquire weapons on the way. Naruto looked back at Kimimaro, only just realising that his companion had stopped walking.

"What's up?" He asked curiously, before looking up at the sign. "Ooh, good idea! Let's go in, come on come on!" he pushed open the door, pulling Kimimaro in behind him. A middle-aged, rounded man wearing brown leather gear appeared from around the corner as the little bell alerted him to the presence of customers. Kimimaro assumed this was the store's owner.

The man had brown hair, scattered across his head in uneven patches. His eyes were rather small behind circular glasses, but shone a friendly hazel.

"Can I help you boys today?" he asked with a friendly smile. Kimimaro made an effort to act socially acceptable to the situation.

"Are you able to create a hilt for a blade? Custom made?"

"No problem kid! The name's Kimura Nobu by the way." He said, holding out a hand that Naruto enthusiastically shook. Kimimaro took it after the blonde released it, shaking a quick tog before pulling away. He still wasn't used to much physical contact. Kimura-san didn't seem to mind if he noticed. "Any blade you got, I can fix you a hilt in no time. You got the blade?"

"It is outside…I'll be back momentarily."

Kimimaro walked out of the store and down the street. He had an idea, he just hoped Itachi would like it, instead of finding it weird. He soon reached his destination –a secluded alleyway between two food stalls. Looking around warily, Kimimaro pushed a long, sharp bone out of his shoulder blade. It was thin, like any other sword, but extremely strong. It was razor-sharp, all except for the flat of the blade and the part where the hilt would be attached. He studied it, and found it to be acceptable.

Kimimaro walked back into the shop, glaringly white blade in hand, and presented it to Kimura-san, who regarded it with wide eyes.

"Is that…bone?" he asked hesitantly, wondering where on earth –or rather whom- it had come from.

"Hai…is that a problem?" Kimimaro asked. Kimura-san shook his head quickly, still staring at the blade.

"No, no…it should be no trouble at all. I just have never made such a sword before. Are you sure it won't break?"

Kimimaro understood the concern, but this was no ordinary bone. "No, it is strong."

Kimura-san nodded. "I see…ok then, I can have it by tomorrow. Now what were these custom specifications you mentioned?"

"I wish to have the hilt done in black, with red strings attached to the end. In silver I would like this symbol." He explained, drawing a rendering of Itachi's Mangekyo on a slip of paper. The man nodded.

"That's a fairly simple design, shouldn't take too long. You can pay when you pick it up." He added as an afterthought.

"Thank you." The Kaguya bowed. Naruto waved enthusiastically.

They left the store, Naruto grinning from ear to ear and Kimimaro with a satisfied tilt of his lips.

Now they just had to find something for Naruto to give.

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"Heee looks like a weasel-"

Itachi twitched.

"Aaand his name means one too!" Naruto finished with a triumphant grin. It was exactly fourteen years since Itachi's birth, and he had just been blessed with a Naruto-modified song of "Happy Birthday".

Sasuke was snickering openly and Gaara was obviously struggling to remain impassive. Haku giggled and patted Naruto's head in approval. Kimimaro on the other hand, having never heard the original version of the tune, did not understand what was so amusing.

"Ok, present time Ita-nii!" Haku grinned with pure excitement. "Who's first?"

"Me!" Naruto yelled. Sasuke scowled.

"Dobe, he's _my_ brother."

"So? He likes me more." The blonde stuck out his tongue. Sasuke glared.

"No he doesn't you idiot!"

Itachi pinched the bridge of his nose, trying futilely to push back a migraine. Haku hit the two arguing boys on the head.

"Enough! Gaara, you can go first."

Gaara silently handed Itachi a curious bundle. It was coated in a layer of sand rather than gift wrap, something purely _Gaara._ Itachi stood up and shook all of the sand off, now that Gaara had stopped keeping it solid. Remarkably, not a grain stuck to the smooth cloth underneath.

The cloak was a rich, somehow warm black. It reached down to his ankles and had a hood capable of hiding his face from view. But the most predominant thing about the cloak was the crimson tomoes adorning it in various places. While the tomoes were a sign of his Sharingan possession, Itachi was reasonably confident that they would not be recognised as such by most people they encountered. The tomoes were spread randomly across the black expanse, varying in positioning.

"Thank you Gaara." Itachi said, bowing his head and letting a small but genuine smile creep onto his face. Gaara nodded, clearly pleased with how his gift was received.

"Ok Sasuke, _now_ you can go." Haku said graciously.

"Aniki! Here!" he thrust a reasonably large book in the direction if his older brother. "So you can draw better stuff now!"

Naruto nodded seriously. "Starting with my epic battle, in which I annihilated Uchiha Sasuke…"

"DOBE! That never happened!" Sasuke twitched in annoyance.

Naruto shrugged. "Nothing wrong with drawing the future." Sasuke looked away.

"Tch."

Itachi decided to intervene. "Thank you Otouto, I have indeed missed my…escape."

Sasuke smiled. Not a smirk, but a genuine smile. "You're welcome Aniki."

"Now mine!" Naruto bounced up and down. Anybody would think that he was receiving rather than giving a present. "Here!"

The gift was wrapped in a fluro orange paper, with bowls of ramen dotting it in pattern. Itachi raised an eyebrow. Naruto blushed a little at the scrutiny.

"Hey, ramen is awesome!" he said defensively. Itachi inclined his head, calming down the ramen-loving blonde. He picked at the corners of the present, only to have Haku snatch it out of his grasp.

"Oh seriously, you're not keeping the paper!_ Rip it!_ Stop being such a neat freak." Haku ordered, holding it out of the Uchiha's grasp until he submitted. Itachi sighed and held out his hand. Haku handed it back, grinning in triumph. Itachi ripped into the paper, refusing to acknowledge the satisfying feeling of rebellion.

"…You gave me a pair of…sunglasses?" he asked, as if needing conformation to what he held in his hands. Naruto grinned widely.

"Yep! So that nobody can see your Sharingan! Plus they'll look _so_ cool."

"…Thank you." He nodded, studying the accessory further.

The lenses were tinted so strongly that they were impossible to see through from the outside, but inside barely had a colour shift. They weren't a blocky rectangle shape, nor were they a circular like the Aburame clan were known for. All in all it was a well thought out and useful gift in Itachi's opinion.

The evil and knowing smirk on Haku's face made Itachi hesitant to accept her gift. What if it exploded or something? No, that was a more Naruto thing to do… Warily, he opened the plain brown box.

To find it filled to the brim with _Pocky._

Only a lifetime as an Uchiha kept Itachi from drooling slightly at the beautiful sight. That's right, the mighty and feared Uchiha Itachi had a _major_ case of the Sweet-tooth Syndrome. His loving gaze lifted from the box and settled on the smug Haku.

"How did you know?"

Haku shrugged. "I stalked you."

Itachi raised an eyebrow again, inwardly hoping she wasn't becoming one of those obsessive _Fangirls_. Haku rolled her eyes. "I needed an idea of what to get you. And I saw you staring at a Pocky stand for _twelve minutes._"

Itachi coughed slightly to hide his ever-so-slight embarrassment-at being observed unknowingly, _of course_-and was eager to move on. Kimimaro silently handed Itachi a black sheath. Curious, Itachi gripped the visible hilt and pulled out the sword.

He couldn't stop his eyes from widening.

The smooth, pearly blade was about the length of a standard Katana, maybe slightly longer. It looked delicate but also deadly, like a weapon sent from Kami. The hilt was ebony, with crimson ribbons tied at the end. On the top of the hilt was his Mangekyo Sharingan, with silver representing where the red would be, and Itachi felt a deep appreciation that this blade was marked as _his_ and nobody else's_._

For one of the first times in his life, Itachi was silent not because he didn't feel the need to talk, but because he had nothing he could say. Eventually he cleared his throat, never taking his eyes off the sword, and said, "Thank you Kimimaro."

Kimimaro nodded, inwardly pleased.

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Kabuto watched his target, studying the boy's every move through his glasses. There was no way he could get anywhere near them without being sensed, so it was a good thing that his prototype was complete.

You see, many people often wondered why Kabuto simply didn't get a Medic-Nin to get his eyesight up to one hundred per cent as many other Shinobi did, or even do it himself. What they didn't know was the Kabuto's vision was perfectly fine. His glasses were in fact one of his own inventions, designed for this very purpose. If you channelled even a tiny portion of chakra into the lenses, they enhanced the user's vision like binoculars. This was extremely useful for spying, especially paired with his ability to read lips.

He watched as the Kaguya handed the older Uchiha a sword sheath. According to Kabuto's sources, today was in fact the meddling Uchiha's birthday. It seemed they were celebrating.

How sweet. It made him _sick_.

Outwardly, Kaguya Kimimaro was showing no signs of illness, this was good. It meant that the damage was spreading slowly, which meant more time to get their hands on him before he became completely useless for Orochimaru-sama's goals. One day soon, when he got the order from Orochimaru-sama, he would approach the boy.

But for now, he was content to watch from afar and report back to his master.

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Pein was in a 'mood' again.

Ever since that Uchiha kid had refused to enter the Akatsuki, he had been volatile. At first, he assured everyone that any day now the Uchiha would reconsider, and come walking into Ame to find him.

But he didn't.

Not only that, but he had dropped off the radar entirely. Even Zetsu was having trouble locating him, and whenever he came close, the trail was too faint to follow. All they had deduced was that he was not alone.

The abandoned campsites Zetsu had located showed evidence of multiple persons, anywhere from three to eight individuals. It was impossible to determine for sure, as a lot of people could have passed through the area and left the faint essences. The lack of confirmation made Pein _very_ angsty.

NOBODY REFUSED THE AKATSUKI AND GOT AWAY WITH IT! This blatant insult gnawed at Pein's nerves, and all the other members, even Konan, knew it was best to keep away for a while. Pein slammed a hand down on his armrest, cracking the surface. His Rinnegan glowed with the wrath of a 'Kami'.

Uchiha Itachi would join them, or suffer the consequences.

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"Ugh, this is _disgusting._ It's all grainy and crunchy, who made this? I am making a complaint." The young man spat in distaste. He glared up at the young waitress of the bar.

"I-I'm sorry sir, l-let me get the c-cook." She stuttered nervously, turning to go. He grabbed her wrist.

"Now hold on there a minute girly." He drawled. "What is a pretty thing like you doing in a dump like this? You're underage aren't you?" he asked, letting his gaze wander slowly up and down her figure.

She gulped and looked at her captive wrist in concern. "Y-yes. But m-my father owns this place, s-so I work when I can."

He nodded in understanding. "I see. Well in that case, I'll just have to be reimbursed for this rotten food in a _different_ way."

"S-sir?" The young girl squeaked as his grip tightened. He pulled her down to his level and hissed in her ear.

"Now listen here bitch, I'm a _very _dangerous man. You will do as I say, or else every last person in this joint is gonna pay, you got that?"

"Y-y-yes." She was now shaking in fear. He put down his glass and stood, never letting go of her.

"Good girl. Now why don't you come with me outside for a moment hmm?" he 'asked' with a lecherous glint in his eyes. She nodded shakily and followed him out the door.

He never saw her smirk.

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The intoxicated man pulled her into a dark shadow, pushing her harshly against the stone wall. He held a meaty hand over her petite mouth, while the other fumbled somewhat clumsily at his belt. Finally getting it loose, he leant down and whispered in her ear.

"Don't scream. I don't like it when they scream."

He watched her shake with a perverse satisfaction. A twisting feeling had begun in his gut, but in his drunken state he passed it off as indigestion from that shitty meal. The girl's brown eyes were wide with terror and pleaded with him to stop, but that only made him all the more turned on. Now, if only he could get her to cry.

"What's the matter sweetheart? Maybe if your Daddy didn't feed customers such gritty filth this wouldn't have happened." He paused, his eyes showing an intense and dangerous lust. "Actually, it probably would have. You're a pretty little thing." He stroked her cheek, grinning. His stomach was in quite a lot of pain now, but that wouldn't stop him. Not now, not when it had been a whole month since he last indulged.

Just as he reached up to rip at her Kimono, he dropped to the ground with a loud thud. Blood gushed from his mouth and he looked up in shock at the unsurprised girl. His agonised gaze soon became as lifeless as the stone he lay on. She turned to the shadows and smirked.

"About damn time Gaara, that guy smelt something awful." She made a face and shuddered dramatically. Gaara rolled his eyes.

"I apologise Haku-nee. You are quite the talented actress." He praised.

"All part of the job description." Haku smiled lightly. "Now come on, before somebody notices this guy."

They departed from the scene, after sealing the corpse's head in a scroll of course, to collect the bounty. The target was just a Bandit, but a renowned one. It was said that he had raped and killed over a hundred girls, including some Kunouchi, quite an impressive feat for a lowly criminal. But any man could drop his guard under the influence of alcohol and a female presence.

All that the local authorities were able to determine was that the autopsy of the deceased (and headless) man showed that his stomach was literally in bloody pieces, as if it had been ripped apart from the inside. That, and he had an unusual amount of sand in his system at the time of death.

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Naruto and Sasuke were fishing for dinner together, down by the nearby river. It seemed that wherever they camped, there was a water source _right there._ No doubt this was all Itachi's doing.

It had been a while since the two had been alone together, and although neither could ever possibly admit it out loud, they had missed each other's company. Sure, they were together most of the time, but with others around it just wasn't how it used to be. Naruto was scared that they would eventually drift apart, and was determined to ensure that that didn't happen.

"Hey Teme, bet I can catch more than you!" he called, goading his friend into competition. Sasuke snorted.

"Bring it on Dobe, you couldn't catch a fish to save your life." It was a fact in Sasuke's mind. Naruto was too damn loud to sneak up on a rock. The blonde frowned.

"Nuh uh! You scare them away with your emo-ness!"

Sasuke's brow furrowed. "…Emo-ness?"

Naruto rolled his eyes, as if it was obvious. "Yeah, emo-ness. You dress all in dark stuff, don't talk much and your hair is all…styled." He gestured to the back of his head. Sasuke glared.

"It's naturally that way! I don't do anything to it!" he defended. "…And I talk!"

"Well yeah, now you do. But before, you were all broody and quiet." Naruto informed him. Sasuke huffed.

"And you were an obnoxious idiot. I see that hasn't changed at all." He muttered darkly. Arut's eyes widened in outrage.

"HEY! Sasuke-Teme, don't make me beat your ass." He threatened.

Sasuke scoffed. "Like you could."

"I could so!"

"Fire beats Wind. Your **Fuuton** are useless against my **Katon.**" The Uchiha said, smug. Naruto clenched his fists.

"I'll beat you with my bare hands!"

"Dobe." Sasuke replied. Naruto's control snapped.

"Ahh! That's it!" he yelled in frustration, diving at the smirking dark haired boy. They went flying, and into the river. Sasuke surfaced first, spluttering as he pulled Naruto up as well. Although the blonde had been given a crash-course in swimming, he still wasn't very good at it.

"You idiot! Now our clothes are all wet! Haku is gonna kill us!" Sasuke groaned in irritation. And it was cold!

"So? You scared of a _girl_ Teme?" Naruto mocked.

"And why, pray tell Naru-chan, would he not be?" a sickly sweet voice asked from the river bank. Both boys froze in fear, almost sinking, and turned to see Haku with her hands on her hips. Naruto rubbed the back of his head.

"Eh heh heh…Yeah Sasuke, girls can be strong as! Don't be so sexist." He scolded. Sasuke's expression was deadpanned.

"_Na-ru-to."_ Haku growled. Naruto hid behind the Uchiha.

"Eeep! Sasuke-Teme, hide me!" he whimpered. Sasuke moved away.

"You're on your own Dobe."

Haku manipulated the water, carrying the struggling Naruto out of the river and dumping him on the hard ground. Haku gripped his ear and began to stalk off.

"Sasuke-Teme,_ save me!_" He cried as he was dragged away by an indignant Haku. Sasuke sighed.

Now he had to catch dinner alone…in wet clothes.

**Poor, poor Naruto…you should never insult a Kunouchi for their gender if you want to remain in one whole, functioning piece.**

**-TITM**


	14. Chapter Thirteen

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto…..I wouldn't have the patience.**

**Sorry this is late, I have been miserably sick and couldn't bring myself to get out of bed, let alone write. I think I will change this fic into updating every two weeks…it's just hard to keep up with everything and my other two chapter stories have had more response. I am spending so much time trying to stay on schedule I don't get much time to actually read anything! T_T**

TIMESKIP, THREE YEARS.

AGES:

Itachi:  Sixteen

Haku: Thirteen

Kimimaro: Twelve

Sasuke: Ten

Naruto: Ten

Gaara: Nine

Inari: Six

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"Dammit Inari, get the heck down from there." Naruto growled up at Inari, who was hanging precariously from a branch. "Now!"

"Nope."

The blonde growled. "Inari!"

"Naruto-nii, don't be so boring. We all know the only reason you're not up here yourself is because Itachi-nii would get angry." He grinned cheekily. Naruto glared.

"Yeah, he will! So come down before he notices!" he looked around nervously. Inari tilted his head.

"…Nah. He doesn't scare me."

"But _I'm_ the one he'll get pissed at! I'm supposed to be watching you!" Naruto whined, putting his hands on his hips. Inari snorted.

"You _are_ watching me genius."

"Smart-ass." Naruto muttered.

"I don't need babysitting you know."

The blonde sighed angrily. "Tell that to him, not me. Besides, you're only a kid!"

Inari huffed. "So are you!"

"Hey, I'm nearly eleven, old enough to be a real Shinobi soon!" Naruto bragged. "You aren't even old enough for the Academy under normal circumstances."

"Since when have we lived by 'normal'?" Inari muttered bitterly. "If things were _normal_ I'd still be in Nami no Kuni! **(AN: The Land of Waves)** Nothing is normal."

"…Ok, you got me there. But seriously, just get down and save your favourite Nii-san from brutal punishment." He begged, giving the younger boy puppy eyes. Eventually, the brunet cracked.

"…_Fine…_" Inari muttered unhappily. His life was so different form how it used to be, all because of that one, awful day that changed everything forever.

_Flashback_

_An excited Inari skipped home from school, eager to show off his newest creation. His Sensei told him the painting was very good, and Inari wouldn't wait to see his mother smile when she saw it! "Kaa-chan? Kaa-chan where are you?" he called as he pulled off his shoes at the doorway. He ran into the living room, waving the paper enthusiastically._

"_Kaa-chan, look what I made at school…to…day…" the young boy trailed off and his eyes widened. There, lying motionless on the ground was his mother. He dropped his paper beside her and fell to his knees, shaking her shoulder._

"_KAA-CHAN! Kaa-chan, wake up! Kaa-chan!" he cried, tears slipping out from his shocked eyes. What was going on? She felt cold…_

"_Kaa-chan please!" he sobbed helplessly. He brought his hand up to muffle his frame-wracking gasps, only to realise his hands were smudged with blood. He stumbled backwards, away from his dead mother and ran into the kitchen. Tazuna was bent over the table, seemingly fallen asleep after one to many sips of Sake again. How had he never noticed Tsunami's death! Inari ran up and tried to rouse his grandfather._

"_Jiji…Jiji, Kaa-chan is-!" he started urgently, only to freeze when Tazuna's head flopped to the side listlessly. His grandfather's eyes were open and full of fear, but no life was to be seen. Inari fell to the ground, shaking violently_

"_No...no, no, no, no, no! Why, why you too? NO!" he screamed and clutched his head. This was a dream, a horrible nightmare! This couldn't be real, it was impossible!_

_A forgotten paper fluttered weakly on the floor, and the smiling faces on the family portrait became crusted with Tsunami's drying blood._

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_Gato was planning to take over Nami no Kuni, monopolising the area and taking unmeasurable profit. As if the greedy bastard didn't have enough money already. He had sent some hired Bandits to take out anyone who could pose a threat in the future, a wise move for any investor. The bridge builder had –of course- been an obvious target, as he could potentially threaten Gato's plan. Tsunami was just unfortunate enough to be in the house when they came for the old man. Tsunami's body was covered in abrasions, and her head had been hit multiple times, most likely from the hilt of a blade. She most likely was given brain damage and had died due to the extreme swelling, as well as internal bleeding. Tazuna had been luckier, a simple slash to the throat and his life was drained away almost effortlessly._

_Inari was only six, but he knew that he had to find a way to survive alone! So, he became a pick-pocket. He snatched whatever food he could from unsuspecting stall clerks and made off with at least three wallets a week, although they often didn't have too much inside. Sure, there was an orphanage somewhere, but the kids there never came out. Or at least, were never noticed when they did. Inari had wanted his whole life to be important, to be somebody people looked up to! Those kids never became anybody memorable, so Inari made the decision not to join them in that fate._

_One day he had made the mistake of trying to steal a Bento off a young girl near the park, who had promptly caught him, causing him freeze. Literally. When the girl, who introduced herself as Haku, had asked why he was trying to steal from her he had looked away defiantly. He then began to shiver as the icy cold prison seeped through his clothes, which weren't really in the best condition after three weeks alone, only occasionally remembering to wash them at the edge of the lake._

_Haku's eyes had softened when she took in the boy's appearance and quickly realised that this child's situation couldn't be anything good._

"_Where are your parents?" she asked, trying to keep her expression stern. Inari refused to looked at her._

"…_Dead."_

_Haku resisted the urge to sigh. "…So who looks after you?" she asked, although it was obvious due to the state of his clothes._

_Inari raised his head defiantly. "I do."_

"_I see…" she said softly, more to herself then to him. Inari did the same, speaking quietly out loud, clearly not expecting her to hear._

"_No you don't. Nobody does. I'm invisible." To anyone else, this would have been nothing but a childish argument, but Haku understood. She was once one of them, one of the invisible children. Overlooked by everything and everybody around you, feeling like you don't exist at all. Like a spirit wandering the earth, searching for something you could never find._

"_What is your name?" she asked. Inari glared._

"_Why do you care!"_

_Haku ignored his rudeness. "My name is Haku. Now, what is your name?" she asked again, this time more forcefully._

"…_Inari. My name is Inari." He muttered, conceding this minor defeat._

"_Inari, huh…Inari, why aren't you in the orphanage?" Haku mused. "It has shelter, food, and somebody could maybe adopt-"_

"_No!" Inari shook his head violently." I never want to be adopted! My Kaa-chan was my Kaa-chan and nobody can ever, ever replace her. Orphanage kids…never make anything of their lives. I don't wanna be invisible forever." He hissed angrily, if this girl was going to try and send him there she had another thing coming!_

"…_Then what do you want?" Haku wondered. Inari couldn't help answering, despite his mistrust._

"_I want to be strong. I want to be able to never lose people again…I want to find out who killed Kaa-chan and Jiji-san and make them pay! I'll kill them!"_

"_And just how do you plan to do that?" she asked deadpanned. "You are a civilian, a homeless civilian child at that. What could you possibly do?" she said rhetorically, awaiting his response._

"_Shut up! I don't know, ok? But I will find a way!" he glared, trying to stop himself from shivering within the ice. Haku nodded to herself. _

"_Inari…"_

"_What." He said, not really caring what she had to say._

"…_How would you feel about becoming a Ninja?"_

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To say that Itachi was at his wits end was an understatement. When Haku had waltzed into camp followed by a little boy, Itachi had just barely resisted the urge to bang his head against the nearest hard surface. Were they running a pound now? Dammit, they couldn't just keep picking up every stray they came across! He was having enough difficulty with the ones they already had! But looking at the skinny and obviously scared boy had forced a defeated sigh out of the exhausted Uchiha. He was definitely getting too soft.

So, Inari had joined their little group. His civilian background was a concern, but Itachi had assured them that many civilian children become Shinobi. As long as they began to develop Chakra from a young age they could be as strong as anyone from a Ninja clan. So far Inari had yet to access any Chakra, but he was studied hard and was determined.

Gaara had unfortunately lost his original Shouji set when they were forced to flee from a campsite one night, but thankfully he had a new one, made specially by Kimimaro. The white haired boy took it upon himself to create new pieces out of manipulated _bone._ Each piece was carefully grown and exactly to scale. Sasuke had then burnt half of them with a white-hot **Katon: Goukakyuu no jutsu**, leaving the charred bones blackened. It was a great idea really, anytime that a piece was lost it could be replaced with minimal effort, and all Gaara had to do was create a board of hardened sand in various shades for the game.

Currently Naruto was in an intense Taijutsu battle with Sasuke, while Itachi watched from the sidelines with calculating eyes, judging their progress. It was Gaara's turn to fix dinner, as Haku had decided that just because she was a girl, she wasn't going to be cooking every night. He used the rough sand to grate off any fur and skin from the rabbits he had caught, before washing them thoroughly to remove any grains. Inari was with Haku at a local hot springs for his weekly swimming lesson. When they had heard that the boy couldn't swim, the big sister figure had quickly volunteered to teach him. Because he was so young, he was allowed into the female side, even though it grossed him out.

One never knows what they have until they lose it.

Kimimaro was nowhere in sight, as he had gone into the forest to collect some firewood. Those idiots Sasuke and Naruto had used up all they had as training dummies, so now they had to get more already. Soon the forest would be bare for sure!

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Naruto coughed as he accidently inhaled some dust that had been kicked up during the spar, momentarily distracting him. Sasuke was quick to take advantage of this, sweeping a leg at the blonde's middle. Naruto leapt away, but was still hit rather solidly in the kidney. Gasping in pain, he turned back to the smirking Uchiha and attacked with renewed vigour. Sasuke inwardly cursed as he was almost hit by the blonde's fists, damn they just kept coming! Sasuke ducked to avoid a punch but was caught off guard by the sudden leg swinging in his direction. He flipped backwards, only just escaping the brutal blow, and landed crouched a few metres behind where he previously was.

Naruto tried to keep his breathing steady, as not to let the 'enemy' know of his fatigue. Sasuke was glowering at him darkly, he really was a sore loser, and he hadn't even lost! …Yet.

"T-tired already, T-Teme?" Naruto forced out, wincing when his voice gave away his panting.

"N-no way…a-are you?" Sasuke gritted his teeth in an attempt to steady his breathes. Naruto scoffed.

"Ha! Y-yeah, right. I could g-go all day."

Sasuke nodded. "Me t-too." He said, bracing himself for the blonde's next move.

"Ok that's enough for today." Itachi spoke up from the sideline. Weak protests met his words, but he disregarded them. "You've been at it for almost four hours now, and the last thing I need is you two collapsing. Go wash up." He added sternly.

Too tired to argue, both ten year olds stumbled in the direction of the small village, heading for the hot springs.

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"This is stupid!" Inari whined unhappily. Haku held in a sigh, this happened every time Inari got into the water.

"There is nothing stupid about swimming Inari. You just have to get used to it." She recited once again. Inari pouted.

"I don't wanna get used to it! I could drown!" he protested.

Haku shook her head. "Not if you learn to swim."

"But-"

"Whatever happened to that brave little boy who swore to become strong?" she asked ruefully. "How can you be that if you can't even tread water for more than ten minutes?"

"I'm not a little boy…" Inari grumbled, dejectedly. His wet brown hair was plastered to his skull, water dripping into his eyes. Despite his sulking, the six year old continued to keep himself afloat. The serenity of the hot bath soaked through them to the bone, liquefying the tense muscles underneath their skin…

_SPLASH!_

"Ahh, Naruto you idiot! You got our clothes wet!" An angry voice yelled from behind the dividing wooden fence. A boisterous laugh met the other voice's outrage.

"Ha ha, whatever Sasuke-Teme, you're just jealous 'cause my jump was _epic!" _he called taunted the first voice.

A low growl could be heard. "No I'm not Dobe! And that wasn't even a jump, that was a cannonball! All you did was ruin everything that was dry!" Obviously, one of them was rather annoyed.

"I'd like to see you do better!" The second voice scoffed. Haku could almost _see_ the other boy twitching before he replied, never one to back down from a challenge.

"Watch me!" The unmistakeable sound of someone exiting the water reached Haku's ears as the water lapped at the stone walls of the hot spring.

"Ooh here comes the _swan dive_!" The person still in the water cackled.

"Shut up Naruto!" roared the other voice, obviously getting riled up.

_Well, that's it._ Haku decided. "AREN'T YOU TWO TOO OLD FOR THIS? YOU'RE ACTING LIKE CHILDREN!" she called loudly, her voice echoing to the other side of the dividing fence.

"Eeep! S-sorry Haku-nee!" One voice yelped. The first, slightly deeper voice called out as well.

"We didn't know you were in there!"

"Just keep it down before I make that water _very cold_." she threatened, making her intentions very clear. It wasn't long before sounds began to drift over again with the steam.

"…Haku-nee is scary…" one voice whispered. The other responded, equally quiet as he slipped almost soundlessly back into the water.

"…You just figured that out?"

Haku just shook her head as the whispers continued, blocking them out. It was time to just relax and enjoy the perfect hot springs.

_SPLASH_

"HEY!"

…Almost perfect.

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Kimimaro held himself upright, his hands clenching in a death grip of the tree he leaned on heavily. He gradually released his tight control, of Chakra, allowing the built-up barrier in his chest to disappear. He was suddenly crippled by pain and doubled over in an attempt to hold himself together. Violent and frame-shaking coughs overtook his body, tearing his insides apart.

Blood was now splattered on the hand he held to his mouth, but still the coughs did not relent. He knew that using Chakra to hold them back for days on end only made these times harder, but he had to keep this a secret from the others. If they found out he would only burden them, besides, he didn't want them to worry. He smiled ruefully, it seemed that Kumo boy was right…his clan certainly specialised in unique poisons. The only plausible explanation for his illness was that fog from so long ago, and Kimimaro couldn't help but wonder if this was his punishment for killing those two Genin.

The crimson substance never halted in its riot exiting the Kaguya's lungs, and Kimimaro found himself on his knees without remembering when he got there. His body was shaking uncontrollably as the coughs continued to wrack his form without mercy or hesitance.

Eventually the coughs lessened and then subsided, however temporarily it may be. The white haired boy was panting, covered in a cold sweat and struggling to remain conscious.

"…Kimimaro?"

Kimimaro froze. His heart was beating rapidly and his chest began to hurt again. No, no, no, during his 'episode' he had let his guard down!

"Y-yes Itachi?" he said with a panicked voice, cursing himself. He heard Itachi walk closer and suddenly stop.

"What…Are you bleeding?" He asked. Kimimaro stayed silent, holding back another cough. Itachi came closer and bent down beside him. "Dammit," he cursed quietly, "It was that poison smoke wasn't it?"

The Kaguya still didn't speak, and had broken into a cold sweat.

Itachi sighed. "Kimimaro, you have to tell me."

"…Yes." The white haired boy breathed out, almost too quiet to hear.

"How long has this been going on?" Itachi demanded, giving Kimimaro a look that ordered the truth.

"…Almost four months."

Itachi blinked, it had been going on for this long? "Why didn't you ever tell us? Kami, look at yourself, you're sick Kimimaro. This isn't something that you could just ignore." He scolded. Kimimaro looked at the ground in shame.

"I didn't want you all to worry about me." He answered. After all they had done for him, he simply couldn't shove his worries onto their shoulders. It wouldn't be right!

"Come on, we should head back, it's getting dark." Itachi said once Kimimaro's coughs had faded. Kimimaro nodded and pulled himself upright. He began to walk shakily past Itachi, towards camp.

"Kimimaro!" Itachi called out to him, causing the conflicted boy to pause.

"We'll fix this ok? You don't need to damage yourself further by hiding it." Itachi told him sternly. This could remain a secret no longer.

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Kabuto was bowed in front of his Lord respectfully. "Orochimaru-sama. The Uchiha nuisance, Itachi, has discovered the Kaguya's illness."

The snake-like man stiffened in his chair. "How?" he hissed.

"The boy has been holding back the disease with chakra, only allowing it to release every few weeks. Itachi caught him five days ago, and relayed in no uncertain terms that he must not continue to hide it much longer."

Orochimaru's yellow orbs squinted in displeasure. "I see…it seems that we must put my plan into motion earlier than anticipated. Kabuto, how far would you say the deterioration has progressed?"

"He is still a very capable and fierce fighter my lord, unless he is experiencing a coughing fit. If I were to hazard a guess, without properly analysing the boy, I would give him a few years to live if the rate of the deterioration continues as it is." The grey haired teen rattled off. Orochimaru listened intently.

"And can it be cured?"

"Unknown as of yet Orochimaru-sama, but I should be able to hold off any progression until a cure is found once you have possession of the boy." Kabuto smirked.

"That shall have to do for now…Get Karin and her subordinates working on it immediately. You still have the sample taken from the scene?" The snake Lord verified. Kabuto nodded.

"Of course."

"Good. I expect results shall not be delayed." Orochimaru said with a clear undertone of warning.

"Hai, I will see to the matter personally my lord." He replied smoothly.

Orochimaru gestured for his head Medic to stand. "You are dismissed Kabuto."

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The silence was thick as Sasuke lay still in the tent. The slight rustle of the walls made by the night breeze didn't disturb him, nor did the incessant communication by the nocturnal creatures outside. His pillow was damp and cool, retaining the last of the moisture from his drying hair, which was mussed out of its usual, distinctive style. The light snores emitting from the blonde beside him weren't what kept sleep from capturing him, no, Sasuke was long used to the almost rhythmic sounds by now. What kept the young Uchiha from his needed slumber tonight was Kimimaro.

Over the years they had been together, Sasuke had come to see the white haired boy as a second older brother. Although he would never be as close to Kimimaro as he was to his true brother, Itachi, he still admired the Kaguya.

He knew it was the same way for the others as well, Haku was their nagging and sometimes scary older sister who mothered them on occasion, and Itachi was the oldest brother, the one who you never argued with unless you wanted to deal with the consequences. He didn't relish in conflict, but was more than willing to fight due to an overdeveloped protective streak that was the cause if some frustration.

Naruto was the annoying and hyperactive one that you could rarely help smiling at, even if you were rolling your eyes as well. He was the source of constant sunshine for all of them, and just one conversation with him would leave you wondering what on earth had got you down in the first place…Even if that damnable ramen obsession never ceased to empty their pockets.

Gaara was quieter than Naruto, but had a vindictive mind if you dared to provoke him. While his pranks were not nearly as obvious as Naruto's, Gaara would definitely find some underhanded way to make you regret whatever it was you did. He was somewhat of an artist when it came to his sand sculptures, and was very quickly becoming a perfectionist with their precision, not a grain of sand could be out of place.

Sasuke himself was viewed as the pouty-est of the bunch, but you would never tell that to his face, lest he throw a **Katon** in your direction. He was a renowned sulker if things didn't go his way, but everybody seemed to be immune by now, much to his dismay. He still had the odd nightmare about the Massacre, but even they paled to the more recent fears of losing his new 'family', which spurred him into more vigorous training.

Inari was not yet considered a baby brother to Sasuke, because he had not been with them all that long, but the Uchiha could already feel the brat becoming an irrevocable part of the 'family', and would soon have the title. Inari was at first quite challenging to get along with, as he had a dire need to prove himself and refused any sort of comfort when he slipped back into an almost catatonic depression every so often. Haku rarely left his side during these days, gently coaxing the boy out of his protective shell. Inari was more trusting now and could smile and laugh genuinely, but occasionally he could get a sad look in his eyes and leave to find Haku.

And then, there was Kimimaro.

Kimimaro was the brother that despite never announcing his presence was always there. You knew he would be there whenever things got tough and he never pried, only listened when you wanted to talk. He was loyal to a fault, and you had no doubt that he would follow you no matter what choices you made. He never quite got over his liking of flowers, but they had long ago learnt that unless you wanted to be whacked over the head, you shouldn't mention it. He had most definitely lost that sense of helplessness and nervousness that had clung to him when they had first met the Kaguya. For all his silence, he was not shy in the slightest. He was the most graceful of them all –much to Haku's annoyance- and his fighting skills continued to reflect that.

And now, Kimimaro was sick. Really sick. Itachi had called them all together before dinner and told everybody to take a seat. He had then gestured for Kimimaro to speak. The white haired boy had avoided any eye contact while telling them of what had been happening unbeknownst to them the past few months. He had listed all of the symptoms and what he and Itachi suspected had caused them. The silence was deafening, only broken by the bland voice of the emotionless Kimimaro.

By the end of it, Haku was sobbing into her palm. Sasuke watched her helplessly, too wound up in his own inner torment to offer any sort of comfort. Gaara was staring listlessly at the ground, his sand swirling restlessly around his feet. This in and of itself was a sign of his distress – the sand had not moved on its own in a long time. Inari picked at the grass, in too shocked to really comprehend the situation. He just knew that Kimimaro was sick, and it sounded pretty bad. Plus, Haku was crying. He had never seen Haku cry before. Naruto pressed had himself into Haku's side, silent tears running down his face. He was lost so far in thought it was almost as if he was unaware of the world. Itachi was pained at seeing his 'siblings' so upset, but he knew that hiding the truth would help nothing. Kimimaro was wallowing in guilt at causing so much turmoil to those he cared about.

Sasuke turned onto his other side, trying without success to block out his memories and find some relief from his distress in sleep. He sighed in frustration and flipped onto his back once again, noticing with slight surprise and resentment that a faint light was beginning to shine through the light green material. He groaned to himself, glaring at the offensive roof and flicking the grit from his eyes.

They had to find a way to fix this, or Gaara wouldn't be the only insomniac.

**I'm sorry! I actually thought I had already posted this…*hits head repeatedly* I'm SO smart. Ok, dropping the sarcasm now, I swear.**

**Now Kimimaro's secret is out…what next? DUM DUM DUM! If anyone has an idea for a cure, please tell me! Right now my only idea is Tsunade (or Orochimaru *gasp*), but if anybody has a better idea I'll be happy to consider it!**

**-TITM**


End file.
